LB 


UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


IC-NRLF 


SB    17    ESD • 

STANDARDIZED    EXERCISES    IN    UNITED 
STATES   HISTORY. 

COLONIAL  PERIOD 


STURGISS  BROWN   DAVIS 


A  THESIS 

PRESENTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL  IN 

PARTIAL  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR 

THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 


UNIVERSITY   OF    PITTSBURGH   PRESS 
1921 


EXCHANGE 


UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


STANDARDIZED    EXERCISES    IN    UNITED 
STATES   HISTORY. 

COLONIAL  PERIOD 


BY  ii 

STURGISS  BROWN  DAVIS 


A  THESIS 

PRESENTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL  IN 

PARTIAL  FULFILLMENT  OF  THE  REQUIREMENTS  FOR 

THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 


UNIVERSITY    OF    PITTSBURGH    PRESS 
1921 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

1.  Introduction     5 

2.  Purpose  of  the  Study 6 

Chap.        I.    Selection    and    Organization    of    the    Material    to    be    Stand- 
ardized. 

Sec.  1.     The  Content  of  the  Exercises    9 

Sec.  2.     The   Form  of  the  Exercises 11 

Chap.       II.    Standardizing  the  Material. 

Sec.  1.     Procedure    Followed    15 

Sec.  2.     Schools  Taking  Test  I     20 

Sec.  3.     Schools  Taking  Tests  II    and   III    21 

Sec.  4.     Scoring   the    Exercises    28 

Sec.  5.     Tabulating  the  Results    29 

Chap.     III.    Tentative  Scales  in  the  form  of  Lists  X  and  Y 33 

Chap.      IV.    Weighting  the  Results  of  the  Data  on  each  Exercise. 

Sec.  1.     Plan   of   Procedure    ." 43 

Sec.  2.     Tests  for  the  Reliability  of  the  Data 44 

Sec.  3.     The  Reading  Difficulty  of  the  Exercises 50 

Sec.  4.     The  Element  of  Success  by  Chance.  Formula 52 

Chap.       V.    Classification    of    the    Standardized    Material    into    Scales    C 

and  D  and  Tests  E  and  F 55 

Chap.     VI.    Use  of  the  Standardized  Exercises  for  Supervisory  Purposes. 

Sec.  1.     Reorganization   of   Proposed    Measures    into   Test   A 

and  Test  B,  Part  I  and  Part  II   69 

Sec.  2.     Value   of   the    Standardized    Exercises    81 

Sec.  3.     Significance  of  the  Value  Found  for  Each  Exercise.    85 
Four  Different  Kinds  of  Historical  Material    87 

Sec.  4.     Possible    Uses   of   the    Standardized    Exercises 89 

Chap.    VII.    Summary    and    Conclusion    •'••••   95 

Sec.  1.     Summary     95 

Sec.  2.     Conclusion 96 

Bibliography    97 


£62394 


STANDARIZED  EXERCISES  IN  HISTORY 
INTRODUCTION 

There  are  now  available  for  the  use  of  teachers  a  number  of 
standardized  tests  in  United  States  History.  All  of  these  tests  cover 
in  a  general  way  the  whole  period  of  history  and  are  especially  use- 
ful for  survey  work.  There  is  need,  however,  of  a  different  kind 
of  test  for  supervisory  purposes  which  shall  include  the  many  details 
of  a  single  period  of  history  and  at  the  same  time  lend  itself  readily 
for  diagnostic  purposes.  Such  tests  have  been  devised  and  are  here 
presented  as  one  more  means  of  determining  scientifically  the  attain- 
ment of  pupils  in  this  subject. 

The  plan  used  in  standardizing  the  material  of  tests  is  given 
in  more  than  usual  detail  in  the  hope  that  teachers  of  history  and 
supervisory  officers  may  be  able  to  profit  by  the  experience  of  the 
writer  and  extend  the  work  here  started.  Care  has  been  taken  to 
exercise  simplicity  and  directness  at  all  times  so  that  the  student 
who  is  just  beginning  research  work  in  education  may  find  directly 
or  indirectly  answers  to  questions  of  statistical  procedure. 

Briefly  the  study  was  carried  out  as  follows :  After  determining 
tentatively  the  aims  and  limits  of  the  investigation,  the  material  to 
be  standardized  was  selected  from  a  source  of  unquestioned  value. 
This  material  was  then  put  in  the  form  of  exercises  to  be  worked 
out  by  pupils.  The  responses  of  these  pupils  were  then  scored,  tabu- 
lated, evaluated,  and  finally  weighted  in  terms  of  the  functions  of 
the  Normal  Frequency  Curve.  These  weightings  confirmed  the 
belief  in  the  possibility  of  classifying  the  exercises  into  tests  and  scales. 
They  also  showed  that  there  are  four  distinct  types  of  historical 
material,  characterized  by  the  difficulty  pupils  have  in  comprehend- 
ing them.  Such  classifications  were  made  both  in  form  and  content. 
While  these  classifications  are  correct  theoretically  it  was  deemed 
wise  for  practical  purposes  to  consider  only  the  approximate  weight- 
ing of  each  exercise  and  to  reclassify  all  the  standardized  material 
into  two  tests.  In  this  form  some  accuracy  was  sacrificed  but  the 
reliability  for  supervisory  purposes  is  just  as  valid.  A  Teacher's 
Manual  was  prepared  which  gives  full  directions  for  administering, 
scoring  and  using  the  results  of  the  two  tests  formulated  for  school 
use. 


.    -      .    >»  •      •  -,  J 

.  -     -   .  •    • 
•    .*  -  *  •  •  •   .* 

6  *  Standardized  'Exercises  in  History 

The  execution  of  this  plan  would  not  have  been  possible  with- 
out the  hearty  co-operation  of  teachers  of  history,  supervisors,  and 
students  of  education.  There  was  the  most  cordial  response  at  all 
times  and  I  wish  here  to  express  my  appreciation  of  all  the  assist- 
ance I  received  however  inconspicuous  it  may  have  seemed  to  the 
one  giving  it. 

Such  general  acknowledgment,  however,  is  not  just  regarding 
the  sympathetic  guidance  and  suggestions  I  received  from  Dr.  Harlan 
Updegraff  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania.  He  suggested  the 
intensive  study  of  the  Colonial  Period,  and  the  distinctive  source  of 
the  content  of  the  exercises.  He  also  gave  me  the  benefit  of  many 
constructive  criticisms  before  the  manuscript  was  presented  for 
publication. 

To  my  fellow  students  of  the  seminar  group  in  Educational 
Administration  at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  I  am  indebted  in 
more  ways  than  I  can  express  in  a  formal  work  of  this  kind.  How- 
ever, it  should  be  said  that  the  constructive  criticisms  and  pointed 
suggestions  which  they  offered  when  the  reports  of  progress  were 
made  from  time  to  time  on  this  study,  served  as  a  valuable  check 
against  biased  thinking  and  as  a  stimulus  to  merit  their  approbation. 

PURPOSE   OF  THE   STUDY 

The  purpose  of  this  study  has  been  the  derivation  of  stand- 
ardized testing  material  in  United  States  History  comparable  in 
exactness  with  the  contents  of  such  material  as  the  Monroe  Reading 
Test,  the  Buckingham  Spelling  Scales,  and  the  Ayres  Handwriting 
Scales.  The  hypothesis  was  maintained  that  it  is  just  as  possible 
to  measure  certain  aspects  of  content  subjects,  such  as  history,  as  it 
has  been  found  to  be  possible  to  measure  the  attainments  of  pupils 
in  the  form  subjects  just  mentioned. 

Limits  of  the  Investigation 

For  the  purposes  of  this  study  and  under  the  conditions  it  had 
to  be  pursued,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  circumscribe  the  field  of 
investigation,  and  to  limit  the  method  of  work.  Only  in  this  way 
did  it  seem  possible  to  secure  reliable  results  in  a  field  so  little  known. 
After  a  careful  consideration  of  the  possibilities  of  the  situation  the 
following  limits  were  determined : 


Introduction  7 

1.  Informational  Material.     The  content  of  the  proposed  tests 
should  be  confined  to  the  informational  aspect  of  the  instruction  in 
United   States   History.      Full   and  due  consideration   was  given   to 
the  other  aims  in  teaching  history,  but  the  attainment  of  information 
was  considered  fundamental  to  the  other  aims.     Dewey  has  shown 
clearly  that  information  is  one  of  the  prerequisites  to  sound  thinking 
on   any  problem.      It   seemed   evident   also   that   this   aim   could   be 
measured   more   definitely  than  the   other  aims   such   as   citizenship, 
open  mindedness,  method  of  thinking,  etc. 

2.  One  Period  of  United  States  History.     The  informational 
material  used  for  the  tests  should  be  limited  to  a  certain  period  of 
history,   or  a  cross  section  of  the  whole  course  of   study.     It  was 
thought  that  the  material  of  a  given  period  would  be  more  homo- 
geneous   and    could    be    handled    more    accurately.      The    Colonial 
Period  was  chosen  because  it  has  always  been  taught   rather  thor- 
oughly   in   schools,    and    abounds    in    informational    matter.      There 
seems  to  be  a  need  also  for  a  series  of  tests  each  based  upon  a  single 
period  of  United   States   History  for  the  use  of  supervisors  after  a 
class  has  been  given  the  usual  school  instruction. 

3.  A  Regular  Form.     The  information   used   for   the  testing 
material  should  be  cast  in  a  certain  form  in  order  that  the  scoring 
might  be  objective,  and  at  the  same  time  secure  the  probability  of 
consistency  and  uniformity  in  preparing  the  tests,  and  the  responses 
of  pupils.     Such  uniformity  would  also  be  likely  to  economize  time. 

4.  Eighth    Grade   Pupils.     The  tests  should   be   administered 
only  to  the  advanced  division  of  pupils  in  the  Eighth  Grade.     The 
purpose  in  confining  the  data  to  this  class  of  pupils  was  to  find  out 
as  nearly  as  possible  the  net  results  of  school  instruction  relating  to 
historical   information.     The  belief  was   maintained    that   whatever 
information  pupils  had,  at  least  one  year  or  more  after  completing 
the   course   in   the   Colonial    Period,    represented   material   which    is 
easily  comprehended   and   retained ;  conversely,  that  material  which 
is  difficult  to  learn  would  either  be  wanting  or  so  vague  in  the  minds 
of  the  pupils  as  to  be  lacking  for  ready  command. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  SELECTION  AND  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE 
MATERIAL  TO  BE  STANDARDIZED 

After  the  purposes  and  limits  of  a  study  of  this  kind  have  been 
determined  the  next  points  to  be  considered  are  the  source  of  mate- 
rial  and  the  form  in  which  the  content  is  to  be  placed.  Unless  this 
is  done  the  investigator  must  be  prepared  to  expect  all  sorts  of 
irregularities  in  the  responses  of  pupils. 

SEC.  1. — Content  of  the  Exercises.  The  reliability  of  the  re- 
sponses of  children  as  data  for  standardizing  material  of  instruction 
is  in  proportion  to  the  opportunity  children  have  had  to  learn  the 
content  of  the  test.  The  difficulty  of  finding  such  material  for 
this  investigation  was  solved  by  the  use  of  the  very  careful  study 
by  Bagley  and  Rugg.  This  study  appeared  as  Bulletin  No.  16  of 
the  School  of  Education  of  the  University  of  Illinois.  The  authors 
took  twenty-three  American  Histories  then  in  common  use  and  made 
a  statistical  study  of  the  amount  of  space  devoted  to  the  different 
topics,  "common  to  at  least  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the  books"  and 
additional  topics  "common  to  at  least  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  books." 
Tables  V  and  VIII  of  Bulletin  No.  16  include  topics  devoted  to 
the  "Period  of  Colonial  Settlement  and  Development"  and  to  the 
"Colonial  Wars."  The  topics  in  these  tables  form  the  source  of  the 
content  of  the  exercises  used  in  this  study.  As  the  study  progressed 
it  was  evident  that  additional  exercises  could  be  devised  which  were 
entirely  within  the  range  of  pupils'  interests,  and  as  fair  to  them 
as  the  exercises  based  upon  topics  taken  directly  from  the  Bagley 
and  Rugg  study.  The  answers  to  these  exercises  were  all  taught 
in  school  in  some  form  though  seldom  if  ever  asked  for  directly. 
The  ability  to  work  them  out  was  more  of  an  application  of  common 
sense  in  using  the  facts  already  acquired.  The  following  is  a  typical 
illustration:  "By  the  time  the  Mayflower  had  arrived  at  Plymouth 
Rock  it  had  crossed  the  Atlantic,  Antarctic,  Arctic,  Indian,  Pacific 
ocean."  "By  the  opening  of  the  Revolutionary  War  the  number  of 
colonies  had  increased  to  twelve,  thirteen,  fourteen,  fifteen,  sixteen." 
Since  these  exercises  were  worked  out  successfully  by  a  large  percent- 
age of  the  pupils  tested,  and  no  objection  was  raised  by  teachers,  the 


10  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

author  believed  he  was  justified  in  including  them  and  others  of  the 
same  type.  (Copy  of  Test  I  is  shown  beginning  on  page  18.)  To 
aid  the  reader  in  gaining  a  more  adequate  conception  of  the  wide 
range  of  information  required  to  work  out  intelligently  the  exer- 
cises of  Test  I  the  following  classification  of  the  items  of  informa- 
tion is  here  submitted: 

NOTED  CHARACTERS 


1.  Andros 

15.  Davenport                      29.  Mather 

2.  Argall 

16.  Delaware                        30.  Oglethorpe 

3.  Baltimore 

17.  Dixon                              31.  Penn 

4.  Berkley 

18.  Edwards                         32.  Pocahontas 

5.  Berkeley 

19.  Endicott                          33.  Powhatan 

6.  Bacon 

20.  Gorges                            34.  Rolfe 

7.  Bradford 

21.  Hooker                            35.  Say 

8.  Brewster 

22.  Hutchinson                     36.  Smith 

9.  Calvert 

23.  Kieft                                37.  Standish 

10.  Canonicus 

24.  Leisler                             38.  Stuyvesant 

11.  Carteret 

25.  Locke                               39.  Williams 

12.  Charles 

26.  Mason                             40.  Winthrop 

13.  Claiborne 

27.  Massasoit                       41.  Yeardley 

14.  Dale 

28.  Minuit 

RELIGIOUS   SECTS 

1.  Baptists 

7.  Moravians 

2.  Catholics 

8.  Pilgrims 

3.  Episcopal 

9.  Puritans 

4.  Dutch  Reformed 

10.  Quakers 

5.  Huguenots 

11.  Congregationalists 

6.  Methodists 

COLLEGES 

1.  Brown 

4.  Princeton 

2.  Harvard 

5.  William  and  Mary 

3.  Penn 

6.  Yale 

EARLY  LARGE  CITIES 

1.  Baltimore 

4.  Philadelphia 

2.  Boston 

5.  New  York 

3.  Charleston 

NATIONALITIES 

1.  Dutch 

5.  Irish 

2.  English 

6.  Scotch 

3.  Germans 

7.  Spanish 

4.  Indians 

8.  Swedes 

1.  1607 

2.  1619 

3.  1620 

4.  1643 

5.  1683 


Selection  and  Organization 
DATES 

6.  1733 

7.  1754 

8.  1775 

9.  1787 
10.  1789 


11 


1.  Bacon's  Rebellion 

2.  Charter  Oak 

3.  Charter  Colonies 

4.  Claiborne's  Rebellion 
Colonial   Wars 

5.  Anne 

6.  William 

7.  George 

8.  French  and  Indian 

9.  Democracy 
10.  Monarchy 

1.  Connecticut 

2.  Delaware 

3.  Georgia 

4.  Maryland 

5.  Massachusetts 

6.  New  Hampshire 

7.  North  Carolina 


1.  Boston  News  Letter 

2.  City  of  Brotherly  Love 

3.  Debtors  of  England 

4.  First  Colony 

5.  Indigo 

6.  Indentured  Servants 

7.  Holy  Experiment 

8.  Last  Colony 

9.  Log  House 

10.  Mayflower 

11.  New  England 


LEGAL  TOPICS 

11.  Aristocracy 

12.  Autocracy 

13.  Oligarchy 

14.  English  Crown 

15.  Continental  Congress 

16.  Grand  Model 

17.  Great  Treaty 

18.  Mason  and   Dixon  Line 

19.  Royal  Government 

20.  Toleration  Act 

EARLY  COLONIES 

8.  New  Jersey 

9.  New  York 

10.  Pennsylvania 

11.  Rhode  Island 

12.  South  Carolina 

13.  Virginia 

14.  Maine 

MISCELLANEOUS 

12.  Patroons 

13.  Plymouth  Rock 

14.  Poor  Richard's  Almanac 

15.  Preachers'  Influence 

16.  Rice 

17.  Slaves 

18.  Tobacco 

19.  Witchcraft 

20.  Jamestown 

21.  Corn 
Total   136 


SEC.  2. — Form  of  the  Exercises.  After  the  content  of  the  test- 
ing material  had  been  decided  upon  it  was  necessary  to  consider  the 
form  in  which  it  should  be  put.  The  responses  of  pupils  had  to  be 
evaluated  in  an  objective  manner. 


12  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

The  studies  of  Starch,  Monroe,  Kelly  and  others  all  show  how 
variable  are  the  marks  of  teachers  if  there  is  opportunity  for  a  differ- 
ence of  opinion.  The  ordinary  "question  and  answer"  method  of 
testing  pupils  was  at  once  discarded  for  the  usual  difficulties  would 
be  inevitable.  Either  doubtful  or  partial  answers  would  have  to- 
be  accepted  or  the  content  be  limited  to  those  few  points  about  which 
teachers  and  pupils  readily  agree  there  can  be  but  one  acceptable 
answer,  such  as  dates. 

The  "completion  blank"  form  was  considered  and  tried  in  a 
preliminary  test.  It  was  not  found  satisfactory,  for  either  the  pos- 
sible acceptable  answers  had  to  be  listed  arbitrarily  or  a  shifting 
standard  constantly  defended.  It  was  noted  also  that  pupils  made 
wild  guesses,  and  that  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  frame  up  state- 
ments which  did  not  admit  of  two  or  more  interpretations.  One 
has  but  to  try  this  plan  to  see  how  ingenious  pupils  are  in  inventing 
answers  which  represent  a  partial  truth.  At  least  they  contain  enough 
excellence  for  pupils  to  stand  up  and  defend  their  answers. 

A  cancellation  test  suggested  from  those  used  in  psychological 
work  was  tried,  but  rejected  because  of  the  unnecessary  length  of 
time  required  to  indicate  the  correct  answer. 

Finally  it  was  decided  to  put  the  desired  response  in  each  case 
along  with  seemingly  correct  responses  and  ask  the  pupils  to  indicate 
in  some  way  their  choice.  At  first  they  were  asked  to  underscore 
the  correct  answer,  but  later  it  was  found  that  it  facilitated  the 
scoring  to  have  them  draw  a  line  clear  around  the  correct  one  of 
the  several  suggested  answers.  A  trial  with  this  form  proved  satis- 
factory from  the  first.  Pupils  readily  saw  what  was  wanted,  teach- 
ers approved  it,  and  the  grading  was  easily  and  objectively  done. 

As  the  work  of  forming  the  material  into  tests  progressed  it 
became  evident  that  standards  could  be  set  up  which  if  observed 
would  greatly  facilitate  subsequent  efforts  in  this  line.  The  follow- 
ing were  derived: 

1.  Instead  of  asking  questions,  make  statements  called  "exercises" 
in  History. 

2.  The  form  and  content  of  these  exercises  should  be  unmistakably 
clear  and  as  easy  to  comprehend  as  possible. 


Selection  and  Organization  13 

3.  The  vocabulary  employed  in  the  exercises  should  be  such  as  is 
used  in  standard  text  books  for  elementary  schools. 

4.  Sufficient  suggested  answers  should  be  given  to  minimize  the 
effect  of  chance  selection. 

5.  An  alphabetical  arrangement  of  the  suggested  answers  should 
be  observed  to  avoid  any  constant  error  in  placing  of  the  correct 
answer. 

6.  Pupils  should  indicate  the  correct   answer  by  drawing  a  line 
clear  around  it. 

7.  Any  abbreviations  used  should  be  those  in  common  use. 

8.  The  answers  offered  should  conform  to  the  period  under  con- 
sideration. 

9.  The  suggested  ansxvers  should  be  made  up  of  teaching  mate- 
rial, and  any  one  of  them  seem  a  plausible  answer  to  one  not 
informed  on  the  subject.     Absurd  suggested  answers  defeat  the 
plan. 

10.  The  suggested  answers  should  be  so  different  from  the  correct 
one  that  any  quibbling  over  partial  truths  is  precluded. 

11.  It  should  be  clearly  understood  that  one  answer  and  only  one 
will  be  accepted  as  correct. 

12.  No  exercise  should  be  submitted  unless  there  is  reasonable  evi- 
dence that  pupils  have  had  the  opportunity  to  learn  the  facts 
needed. 

The  last  five  of  these  standards  refer  more  specifically  to  con- 
tent but  were  here  included  for  convenience  since  both  form  and 
content  must  be  considered  together  in  making  up  testing  material. 
The  term,  "Exercises  in  History,"  was  adopted  because  it  seemed 
to  be  the  most  fitting  one  to  use.  The  material  was  not  put  in  the 
usual  statement  form  and  it  was  not  in  the  form  of  questions.  Pupils 
were  accustomed  to  the  word  exercise  as  used  in  Arithmetic,  Geog- 
raphy and  Language.  In  each  of  these  instances  there  was  an  answer 
to  find.  The  situation  is  similar  in  the  Exercises  in  History.  A  num- 
ber of  answers  are  given  and  the  pupil  is  expected  to  find  the  correct 
one. 


CHAPTER  II 
STANDARDIZING  THE  MATERIAL 

SEC.  1. — Procedure  Followed.  Haying  determined  the  content 
and  the  form  of  the  testing  material  it  was  next  necessary  to  deter- 
mine the  specific  and  relative  difficulty  of  each  one  of  the  exercises. 
Two  plans  have  been  used  by  research  students  in  standardizing 
material.  One  plan  is  to  obtain  the  combined  judgment  of  teach- 
ers whose  experience  and  training  seemingly  qualifies  them  to  render 
expert  opinion  as  to  the  value  of  given  questions,  or  the  quality  of 
work  done  by  pupils.  The  Harvard-Newton  Composition  Scale  and 
the  Thorndike  Handwriting  Scale  are  outstanding  examples  of  this 
plan  as  to  quality  of  work.  The  other  plan  is  to  submit  the  mate- 
rial to  pupils  and  grade  the  work  according  to  standards  acceptable 
to  all.  The  assumption  is  made  that,  that  material  is  easy  which 
is  easily,  readily  and  correctly  worked  out;  conversely,  that  testing 
material  is  difficult  which  is  not  easily,  readily  and  correctly  worked 
out  by  the  pupils. 

The  second  one  of  these  plans  \vas  adopted  for  standardizing 
the  historical  material  used  in  this  study.  Each  of  the  exercises  was 
then  submitted  to  pupils  of  the  eighth  grade  in  well  recognized  public 
schools.  Since  the  number  of  responses  which  were  supposedly 
needed,  was  greater  than  the  writer  could  procure  from  pupils 
directly,  a  form  letter  and  directions  for  administering  the  test  were 
prepared  and  sent  out  to  the  chief  school  official  of  the  system  from 
which  data  were  desired.  A  copy  of  Test  I  was  always  included 
with  the  letter  so  the  administrative  officer  could  see  just  the  nature 
of  the  data  expected.  There  was  a  hearty  response  for  co-operation 
in  every  instance.  In  so  far  as  it  was  possible  the  writer  adminis- 
tered the  tests  himself. 

The  form  letter  and  directions  for  "Classroom  Procedure"  are 
as  follows: 

EXERCISES  IN  UNITED  STATES  HISTORY 

COLONIAL  PERIOD 
To  Teachers  of  U.  S.  History: 

You  are  in  a  position  to  co-operate  in  an  experimental  study  of 
the  historical  matter  now  generally  taught  in  our  Elementary 

15 


16  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

Schools.  The  Exercises  herewith  enclosed  is  the  result  of  a  prelimi- 
nary study  which,  it  is  hoped,  will  result  in  definite  suggestions  for 
class  room  work. 

Will  you  kindly  assist  in  securing  actual  results  from  the  pupils 
in  your  charge? 

The  appended  Classroom  Procedure  for  administering  the 
Exercises,  and  the  Directions  to  Pupils  on  the  first  page  of  the  fold- 
ers, are  intended  to  make  clear  all  necessary  points.  Please  read 
these  over  carefully,  and  follow  them  as  given. 

The  material  readily  lends  itself  to  the  game  idea  and  it  is  sug- 
gested that  it  be  so  used.  A  correctly  marked  copy  is  enclosed  for 
your  own  use.  Please  do  not  mark  any  of  the  pupils'  work,  however. 

In  working  up  the  results  of  this  study  each  school  will  be 
designated  by  number  only.  No  personalities  whatsoever  will  enter 
into  the  summary.  The  median  score  for  all  schools  listed,  and  the 
median  for  your  school  will  be  sent  you. 

Your  assistance  will  be  greatly  appreciated  by  those  responsible 
for  the  results  of  this  study.  Return  postage  is  enclosed  to  cover 
cost  of  all  material  sent  out. 

Address  School  of  Education, 

University  of  Pennsylvania, 
Care  of  Dr.  Harlan  Updegraff, 

Box  11,  College  Hall. 

CLASSROOM  PROCEDURE 

1.  All  pupils  who  are  going  to  participate  should  clear  their  desks, 
and  provide  themselves  with  pencils. 

2.  READ  TO  PUPILS:    "Today  we  are  going  to  have  a  new 
way  of  finding  out  how  many  facts  of  the  Colonial  History  of 
our  country  we  know  really  well.     In  order  that  all  may  have 
the  same  opportunity  of  making  a  good  score,  no  one  should 
start  the  game  until  I  give  the  signal.     I  shall  now  pass  out 
the  papers  with  the  first  page  upwards.    You  may  look  at  this 
but  nothing  more  until  I  say,  read  y." 

3.  Distribute  the  Exercises. 

4.  Direct  the  pupils  to  fill  out  the  blanks  at  the  top  on  the  first 
page. 

5.  Read  over  with  the  pupils  the  illustrative  exercises.     If  neces- 


Standardizing  the  Material  17 

sary  put  one  or  more  of  them  on  the  black-board  and  work  them 
out  so  as  to  make  sure  pupils  know  exactly  just  what  is  to  be 
done. 

6.  When  all  is  in  readiness  for  a  period  of  uninterrupted  work, 
say,  Ready,  GO! 

7.  Note  down  the  time  when  the  class  begins  working. 

8.  As  the  pupils  hand  in  their  papers   put  down  the  number  of 
minutes  each  worked  on  the  blank  space  for  that  purpose. 

Test  I 
UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 

SCHOOL  OF  EDUCATION 
EXERCISES  IN   UNITED  STATES  HISTORY 

COLONIAL  PERIOD 
Directions  to  Pupils:    Fill  in  these  blank  lines  with: 

Your   name School 

Grade City Date 

Are  you  a  boy  or  girl  ? 

1.      On  the  following  pages  are  a  number  of  exercises  similar  to  these. 

(a)  Columbus  discovered  Africa,  America,  Asia,  Australia. 

(b)  The   American    Revolution    began    in    the    year   1763,    1765,   1775, 

1776. 

(c)  The    first    American    colony    founded   by    the    English    was    Conn., 

Ga.,  S.  C.,  Va. 

If  you  draw  a  line  around  the  correct  one  of  the  several  suggested  an- 
swers in  italicized  letters  for  each  Exercise,  historical  facts  may  be 
read  as  follows: 

(a)  Columbus  discovered  America. 

(b)  The  American  Revolution  began  in  the  year  1775. 

(c)  The  first  American  colony  founded  by  the  English  was  Va. 
There  is  but  one  correct  answer  in  each  Exercise. 

Try  to  find  the  correct  answer  in  each  Exercise  whether  you  are  sure 

of  it  or  not. 
Hand  in  your  paper  as  soon  as  you  have  worked  out  all  the  exercises 

you  can.    Take  as  much  time  as  you  need,  but  no  more. 
Number  of  minutes  you  worked (Your  teacher  will  note  this.) 


18  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

HISTORY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 
COLONIAL  PERIOD 

Test  I 
EXERCISES 

1.  The  Mayflower  was  a  chapel,  hall,  hotel,  plant,  queen,  ship. 

2.  Miles  Standish  led  in  fighting  the  Dutch,  Indians,  Puritans,  Swedes. 

3.  Roger  Williams  founded  the  colony  of  Ga.,  Md.,  Mass.,  N.  C.,  N.  /.„ 

Pa.,  R.  I.,  S.  C.,  Va. 

4.  The   Patroons  were   Dutch  fishermen,  fur   traders,   landowners,   miners, 

preachers,  teachers. 

5.  Thomas  Hooker  led  emigrants  from  Mass,  to  found  Conn.,  Del.,  Ga.r 

Md.,  N.  J.,  N.  Y. 

6.  The  first  college  founded  was  Brown,  Harvard,  Pennsylvania,  Princeton, 

William  and  Mary,  'Yale. 

7.  The  Witchcraft  delusion  occurred  among  the  Baptists,  Catholics,  Dutch, 

Indians,  Puritans. 

8.  John  Berkley  and  George  Cartaret  once  owned   Conn.,  Del.,   Ga.,  Md., 

Mass.,  N.  H.,  N.  J.,  Pa. 

9.  The  principal  native  food  crop  was  barley,  corn,  oats,  potatoes,  rice,  rye, 

wheat. 

10.  The    Mason    and    Dixon    Line   was    established    between   Pa.    and    Del., 

Md.,  N.  J.,  N.  Y.,  Ohio. 

11.  Nathaniel    Bacon    led    a    Rebellion    against    the    tyranny    of    Governor 

A r tjall,  Andros,  Berkley,  Dale,  Minuit,  Winthrop,   Yeardley. 

12.  The  Charter  Oak  was  a  church,  meeting  house,  painting,  school,  town 

hall,  tree. 

13.  The  Grand  Model  was  drawn  up  by  Cecil  Calvert,  King  Charles,  John 

Locke,  John  Smith. 

14.  Of  the  nationalities  represented  in   all  the  colonies  the  most  numerous 

were  the  Dutch,  English,  French,   Germans,  Irish,  Scotch,  Swedes. 

15.  The   Proprietary   form   of   government   was   exercised   in   Mass.,   N.   Y., 

Pa.,  R.  I.,  S.  C.,  Va. 

16.  The  most  influential  professional  class  in  New  England  were  the  editors, 

lawyers,  physicians,  preachers,  teachers,  writers. 

17.  The  Toleration  Act  in  Md.  was  decreed  by  the  Episcopalians,  Catholics, 

Purtians,  Quakers. 

18.  To  help  the   poor  debtors  of  England   James   Oglethorpe   founded    the 

colony  of  Conn.,  Del.,  Ga.,  Md.,  N.  J.,  S.  C.,  Va. 

19.  The    Pilgrims    were    kindly    received    by    Chief    Canonicus,    Massasoit, 

Philip,  Powhatan. 

20.  The  first  settlement  by  the  Swedes  was  in  Conn.,  Del.,  Ga.,  Md.,  Mass 

N.  C.,  N.  H.,  N.  Y. 


Standardizing  the  Material  19 

21.  Slavery  was  first  introduced  in  1607,  1619,  1620, 1643,  1683,  1775,  1787. 

22.  New  York  was  founded  by  the  Dutch,  English,  Frencli,  Spanish,  Swedes. 

23.  The  main  export  crop  of  early  Va.  was  corn,  cotton,  indigo,  rice,  tobacco, 

wheat. 

24.  The  Great  Treaty  was  between  the  Indians  and  Governor  Berkley,  John 

Endicott,  Cotton  Mather,  William  Penn,  John  Smith,  Miles  Standish. 

25.  Pocahontas  is  said  to  have  saved  the  life  of  Sir  William  Berkley,  Jona- 

than Edwards,  William  Penn,  John  Rolfe,  John  Smith. 

26.  The  Charter  form  of  government  was  enjoyed  by  the  people  of  Del., 

Ga.,  Md.,  Pa.,  R.  I.,  Va. 

27.  The  Huguenots  first  settled  in  Baltimore,  Boston,  Charleston,  New  York, 

Philadelphia. 

28.  The  "Plymouth  Rock"  is  in  Conn.,  Del.,  Md.,  Mass.,  N.  J.,  N.  Y.,  Pa., 

R.  I.,  S.  C. 

29.  The  first  Pilgrims  landed  in  1607,  1619,  1620,  1643,  16S3,  1776,  1789. 

30.  William   Claiborne  led   a  Rebellion   against  Lord  Berkley,   Lord  Brook, 

Lord  Baltimore,  Lord  Delaware,  Lord  Say. 

31.  Indentured  servants   and   slaves   were  held   mostly  in   Del.,   Ga.,   Mass., 

Pa.,  S.  C.,  Va. 

32.  As  Royal   Governor  of   New  England   Sir  Edmond  Andros   represented 

the  Continental   Congress,  the  English   Crown,   the  Proprietors,  the 
Common  People. 

33.  The  First  Representative  Assembly  was  held  in  America  in  1607,  1619, 

1620,  1643,  1754. 

34.  William  Bradford  was  once  Leader  of  the  Baptists,  Catholics,  Pilgrims, 

Quakers. 

!5.     The  first  settlement  of  the  Catholics  was  in   Conn.,  Del.,  Md.,  Mass., 
N.  C.,  N.  H.,  N.  J.,  R.  I. 

36.  Jamestown  was  founded  in  1607,  1619,  1620,  1643,  1733,  1754. 

37.  The  first  Newspaper  in  America  was  the  Boston  News  Letter,  New  York 

Times,   Philadelphia   Ledger,   Poor   Richard's   Almanac,   Providence 
Journal. 

38.  The  houses  of  the  first  colonists  were  generally  built  of  brick,  cement, 

dirt,  marble,  logs. 
The  last  of  the  thirteen   colonies  founded   was   Conn.,  Del.,   Ga.,  Md., 

Mass.,  N.  C.,  N.  Y.,  Pa.,  S.  C.,  R.  I.,  Va. 

In  emigrating  the  colonists  generally  went  east,  north,  south,  west. 
The  last  of  the  Dutch  governors  was  Hudson,  Minuit,  Stuyvesant,  Win- 

throp,  Yeardley. 
The  Germans  settled  mostly  in  Md.,  N.  J.,  N.  Y.,  Pa.,  R.  I.,  S.  C.,  Va. 


20  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

43.  The  City  of  Brotherly  Love  was  founded  by   William  Berkley,   George 

Calvcrt,  John  Endicott,  William  Penn,  John  Smith,  Miles  Standish. 

44.  The  most  important  of  the   Four  Inter-Colonial   Wars  to  the   colonists 

was    Queen    Anne's,    King    George'Sj    French    and    Indian,    King 
William's. 

45.  By  the  middle  of  the  18th  century  the  form  of  government  most  de>ired 

by  the   colonists   was   aristocracy,   autocracy,   democracy,   monarchy, 
oligarchy, 

46.  The    Quakers    in    Mass,    were    persecuted    by    the    Baptists,    Methodists, 

Moravians,  Puritans,  Dutch  Reformed. 

47.  The    Colony   of    Ga.    was   once    invaded    by   the    Dutch,   French,    Irish, 

Spanish,  Swedes. 

48.  The  colony  of  Me.  was  once  under  the  proprietorship  of  John  Davenport, 

Sir    Ferdinando    Gorges,    Anne    tlutchinson,    William    Kieft,    John 
Davenport. 

49.  The  "Holy  Experiment"  was  tried  out  by   William  Bradford,   William 

Brevjster,  Jacob  Leisler,  Peter  Minuit,  William  Penn. 

50.  When  the  colonists  first  landed  in  America  they  found  the  natives  to  be 

Caucasians,  Chinese,  Indians,  Malays,  Negroes. 

SEC.  2.— Schools  Taking  Test  I.  In  the  spring  of  1918  the 
writer  sent  out  or  administered  personally  approximately  1,500  copies 
of  Test  I  to  schools  in  Massachusetts,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania, 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Minnesota.  Those  administered  by  the 
writer  were  in  schools  in  or  near  Philadelphia.  The  returns  from  a 
distance  came  from  school  officials  who  were  interested  in  educational 
progress  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  test  was  admin- 
istered according  to  directions.  In  all  1,250  papers  were  returnedr 
corrected  and  tabulated  by  the  writer.  The  others  were  lost  in  one 
way  or  another. 

In  the  spring  of  1919  the  writer  administered  personally 
approximately  1,500  more  of  the  same  test  in  schools  in  and  near 
Pittsburgh.  This  district  is  distinctly  cosmopolitan,  and  has  the 
further  advantage  for  experimentation  of  variation  resulting  from 
the  complex  school  organization  of  former  years.  Allegheny  County 
is  so  populous  and  wealthy  that  many  independent  school  districts 
are  supported.  The  "State  of  Allegheny"  has  been  aptly  applied  to 
this  region.  Even  in  the  city  itself,  Pittsburgh,  independent  char- 
acteristics of  instruction  may  yet  be  noted  among  those  holding 
over  from  the  ward  system,  although  that  form  of  organization  was 
years  ago  supplanted  by  a  modern  unified  system.  The  results  from 


Standardizing  the  Material  21 

this  region  within  a  few  miles  distance  show  as  wide  a  variability  as 
those  gained  from  different  states. 

When  the  data  from  this  comparatively  limited  area  had  been 
scored,  tabulated  and  weighted,  they  were  found  to  be  as  valuable 
as  the  data  coming  the  previous  year  from  the  seven  states  extending 
as  far  east  as  Massachusetts  and  as  far  west  as  Minnesota.  This 
iie\v  material  was  all  the  more  striking  since  it  was  procured  in 
different  years. 

Table  I  shows  how  closely  the  results  for  the  two  different  years 
and  from  such  widely  separated  school  systems  correspond.  Using 

the   Pearson   cos.   method   of   correlation    in   which    r=cos  __ 

be 

the  coefficient  is  found  to  be  1.00.  If  Sheppard's  method  of  unlike 
signs  be  applied  in  which  r=cos . H ,  the  coefficient  is  found  to 

be  1.00.  Of  course  these  formulae  are  for  approximate  results,  but 
they  are  convenient  for  giving  a  quantitative  statement  about  the 
data  in  this  table  which  by  inspection  shows  remarkable  agreement. 
By  Spearman's  'Toot  Rule,"  r~ .98. 

The  data  producing  these  results  came  from  pupils  who  were 
ready  for  high  school  in  the  following  June. 

The  values  in  Table  I  for  1918  are  based  upon  the  errors  made 
by  1,250  pupils;  the  values  for  1919  are  based  upon  the  errors  made 
by  1,250  additional  pupils,  2,500  in  all. 

Table  II  is  a  modification  of  Table  I  and  brings  out  other  inter- 
esting details  explained  in  the  table  headings. 

Fig.  I  shows  in  a  graphic  form  the  distribution  of  errors  made 
by  the  2,500  pupils.  The  close  approximation  to  the  Normal  Curve 
of  Error  may  be  noted. 

Taking  the  test  as  a  whole  the  addition  of  the  data  in  the 
second  year  made  but  few  striking  changes.  In  many  cases  the  rank- 
ing is  identical.  The  algebraic  sum  of  the  shifting  differences  is 
zero.  The  author  had  additional  data  from  pupils  to  add  to  that 
gathered  in  1919,  but  when  the  results  turned  out  so  little  different 
from  those  of  the  previous  year  it  was  not  considered  necessary  to 
use  them. 

SEC.  3.— Schools   Taking  Test  II  and  HI.     Although  the  re- 


22 


Standardized  Exercises  in  History 


TABLE  I 

COMPARISON  OF  THE  SIGMA  VALUES  FOUND  FOR  EACH  OF  THE 
EXERCISES  OF  TEST  I 


No.  of 
Exercise 

Value 
1918 

Value 
1919 

No.  of 
Exercise 

Value 
1918 

Va'ue 
1919 

1 

.53 

.43 

26 

3.00 

3.03 

2 

1.94 

2.05 

27 

2.84 

2.77 

3 

1.96 

2.16 

28 

1.90 

1.95 

4 

2.43 

2.44 

29 

2.25 

2.37 

5 

2.31 

2.39 

30 

3.15 

2.7'- 

6 

2.40 

2.37 

31 

2.36 

2.31 

7 

1.98 

2.12 

32 

2.42 

2.38 

8 

3.39 

3.32 

33 

3.43 

3.36 

9 

1.75 

1.85 

34 

2.76 

2.  SO 

10 

2.48 

2.46 

35 

2.28 

2.34 

11 

2.39 

2.39 

36 

1.85 

2.  OS 

12 

1.50 

1.46 

37 

3.49 

3.32 

13 

3.49 

3.35 

38 

.7:. 

.73 

14 

1.57 

1.64 

39 

2.62 

2.66 

15 

3.03 

3.01 

40 

2.05 

1.94 

16 

2.65 

2.61 

41 

2.13 

2.04 

17 

2.86 

2.77 

42 

2.72 

2.51 

18 

2.25 

2.29 

43 

1.46 

1.41 

19 

1.99 

2.04 

44 

1.59 

1.58 

20 

2.55 

2.55 

45 

1.50 

1.40 

21 

2.03 

2.26 

46 

2.23 

2.28 

22 

1.27 

1.35 

47 

2.42 

23 

1.73 

1.86 

48 

3.26 

24 

1.43 

1.41 

49 

2.24 

25 

1.19 

1.24 

50 

.51 

suits  from  Test  I  were  satisfactory  the  exercises  were  too  uniform 
in  value  to  construct  a  series  of  standardized  tests  or  scales.  By 
reference  to  Table  II  it  can  be  seen  that  the  nearest  approach  to  the 
zero  value  is  .43  sigma;  and  the  nearest  approach  to  the  other  ex- 
treme of  the  scale,  5.0,  is  3.36  sigma. 

In  the  fall  of  1919  Test  II  was  devised  with  the  purpose  of 
rinding,  if  possible,  well  recognized  material  whose  value  would  be 
more  varied  than  that  yet  discovered.  Some  exercises  were  then 
devised  which  were  thought  to  be  very  easy  for  pupils  to  work  out, 
and  others  which  were  supposedly  very  difficult.  The  study  of 
Bagley  and  Rugg  was  the  source  of  the  material  as  before,  and  it 
was  sanctioned  by  teachers  as  being  fair  for  the  pupils.  The  same 
form  was  used  as  previously  except  that  the  number  of  suggested 
answers  was  kept  uniform.  Eleven  different  schools  were  chosen  for 


Standardizing  the  Material 


23 


TABLE  II 

COMPARISON  OF  VALUES  FOR  THE  EXERCISES  OF  TEST  I 
FOR  TWO  YEARS 


Number 
of  Each 
Exercise 

Sigma 
Value 
in  1919 

Sipma 
Value 
in  1918 

Rank 
in 
1919 

Rank 
in 
1918 

Difference  in 
Ranking  for 
the  two  years 

D4-      D- 

1 

.43 

.52 

1 

1 

0          0 

38 

.73 

.75 

2 

2 

0          0 

25 

1.24 

1.19 

3 

3 

0          0 

22 

1.35 

1.27 

4 

4 

0          0 

45 

1.40 

1.50 

5 

7 

0          2 

24 

.41 

1.43 

6 

5 

1          0 

43 

.41 

1.46 

7 

6     ' 

1          0 

12 

.46 

1.50 

8 

8 

0          0 

44 

.58 

1.59 

9 

10 

0          1 

14 

.64 

1.57 

10 

9 

1          0 

9 

.85 

1.75 

11 

11 

0          0 

23 

.86 

1.78 

12 

12 

0          0 

40 

.94 

2.05 

13 

20 

0          7 

28 

.95 

1.90 

14 

14 

0          0 

41 

2.04 

2.13 

15 

21 

0          6 

19 

2.04 

.99 

16 

18 

0          2 

2 

2.05 

.94 

17 

15 

2          0 

36 

2.05 

.85 

18 

13 

5          0 

7 

2.12 

.98 

19 

17 

2          0 

3 

2.16 

.96 

20 

16 

4          0 

21 

2.26 

2.03 

21 

19 

2          0 

46 

2.28 

2.23 

22 

22 

0          0 

18 

2.29 

2.25 

23 

24 

0          1 

31 

2.31 

2.36 

24 

27 

0          3 

35 

2.34 

2.28 

25 

25 

0          0 

29 

2.37 

2.25 

26 

23 

3          0 

6 

2.37 

2.40 

TT 
-/ 

29 

0          2 

5 

2.38 

2.31 

28 

26 

2          0 

32 

2.38 

2.42 

29 

30 

0          1 

11 

2.39 

2.39 

30 

28 

2          0 

4 

2.44 

2.43 

31 

31 

0          0 

10 

2.46 

2.48 

32 

32 

0          0 

42 

2.51 

2.72 

33 

36 

0          3 

•  20 

2.55 

2.55 

34 

33 

1          0 

16 

2.61 

2.65 

35 

35 

0          0 

39 

2.66 

2.62 

36 

34 

2          0 

30 

2.74 

3.15 

37 

42 

0          5 

17 

2.77 

2.86 

38 

39 

0          1 

27 

2.77 

2.84 

39 

38 

1          0 

34 

2.80 

2.76 

40 

37 

3          0 

15 

3.01 

3.03 

41 

41 

0          0 

26 

3.03 

3.00 

42 

40 

2          0 

8 

3.32 

3.39 

43 

43 

0          0 

37 

3.32 

3.49 

44 

46 

0          2 

13 

3.35 

3.49 

45 

45 

0          0 

33 

3.36 

3.43 

46 

44 

2          0 

Total 

36        36 

24 


Standardized  Exercises  in  History 


PERCENT  OF  ALL  PUPILS 


Standardizing  the  Material  25 

the  experiment  which  were  in  every  way  comparable  with  the  schools 
in  which  Test  I  was  given.  The  same  directions  were  followed  as 
before,  and  the  work  was  all  done  by  the  author.  Especial  care  was 
taken  in  administering,  scoring  and  tabulating  the  results  in  order  to 
make  the  outcome  as  accurate  as  possible.  In  spite  of  all  the  possible 
precautions  the  net  results  of  this  work  revealed  no  exercises  to  be 
of  lower  value  or  decidedly  higher  value  than  were  found  in  Test  I. 
It  was  therefore  necessary  to  devise  another  test  which  was  des- 
ignated as  Test  III.  The  same  methods  of  working  were  used  as 
before  except  that  the  pupils  were  permitted  to  grade  their  own 
papers  first,  and  all  the  material  needed  for  weighting  the  exercises 
was  gathered  in  the  school  room  according  to  a  plan  to  be  given  in 
detail  in  Chapter  III.  The  results  were  more  satisfactory.  All 
the  exercises  in  Tests  II  and  III  were  then  carefully  evaluated  and 
considered  as  preliminary  values  to  forming  two  tentative  scales. 
In  all  1,102  pupils  had  been  tested  in  18  different  schools.  At  this 
point  are  given  copies  of  Tests  II  and  III.  The  same  directions 
were  followed  in  each  test. 

Test  It 
EXERCISES   IN   COLONIAL  HISTORY 

Draw   a   line  around   the  one  italicized   word   which  is   needed   to   turn 
each  exercise  into  a  historical  fact. 

1.  The     "Mayflower     Compact"     was     drawn     up     by     the     Baptists,       1 

Huguenots,  Methodists,  Pilgrims,  Quakers. 

2.  When    the    earliest   colonists    arrived    in    America    they    were    wel-       2 

corned  by  the  Caucasians,  Chinese,  Indians,  Malays,  Negroes. 

3.  George  Washington  was  fitted   for  leadership   in  the  Revolutionary       3 

War  through   his   experiences   in   the    Colonial    War   of   Queen 
Anne,  King  George,  French  and  Indian,  King  William. 

4.  By  the  opening  of  the  Revolutionary  War  the  number  of  colonies       4 

had  increased  to  twelve,  thirteen,  fourteen,  fifteen,  sixteen. 

5.  The  first  attempt  of  the  English  to  colonize  in  America  was  in  what       5 

was  later  called  the  colony  of  Conn.,  Del.,  Mass.,  Penna.,  Va. 

6.  The  territorial   claims  of  the  English  in  America  were  established       6 

by   the   treaty   of    Aix-la-Chapelle,   American,   Paris,   Ryswick, 
Utrecht. 

7.  The  period  of  colonization  took  place  largely  in  the  period  begin-       7 

ning  with  1400,  1500,  1600,  1700,  1800. 


26  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

8.  The  political  control  of  the  Dutch  in  America  came  to  an  end  with       8 

the  surrender  of  Governor  Stuyvesant  to  the  English,  French, 
Germans,  Spaniards,  Swedes. 

9.  "Braddock's    Defeat"    occurred    in    the    first,   second,    third,    fourth,       9 

Colonial  War. 

10.  The  first  written  constitution  springing  from  the  people  and  creat-     10 

ing  a  government  was  in  Conn.,  Del.,  Mass.,  Penna.,  Va. 

11.  The   French  army  built  menacing  forts  in   Western   Conn.,  Mass.,     11 

Md.,  N.  J.,  Penna. 

12.  The   leadership   of  John   Winthrop   was   noted   in  the   founding  of     12 

Baltimore,  Boston,  Charleston,  Philadelphia,  Providence. 

13.  The  most  outspoken   friend  of  the  colonists  in  the  English   Parlia-     13 

ment  was  Dinwiddie,  Montcalm,  Pitt,  Townshend,  Wolfe. 

14.  Lord  Delaware  lived  in  England  nearly  all  the  time  he  was  gover-     11 

nor   of   Delaware,   Massachusetts,   New   Jersey,   Rhode   Island, 
Virginia. 

15.  The    "Pilgrim    Fathers"    came    from    England,    France,     Germany,     15 

Spain,  Sweden. 

EXERCISES  IN  UNITED  STATES  HISTORY 

Test  111 

COLONIAL  PERIOD 

Draw  a  line  around  the  one  italicized  word  which  is   needed  to  turn 
each  exercise  into  a  historical  fact. 

1.  The  Pilgrim  Fathers  came  from  England,  France,  Germany,  Spain,      1 

Sweden. 

2.  The    last    colony    was    founded    in    the    15th,    16th,    17th,    18th,      2 

19th,  century. 

3.  The   New   Sweden   of   1638   later  became  known   as  the  colony  of       3 

Conn.,  Del,  N.  H.,  Pa.,  R.  I. 

4.  Among  the  many  hardships  of  the  time  were  the  unexpected  attacks      4 

by  Arabian,  Chinese,  Cossack,  Indian,  Negro  warriors. 

5.  More  lasting  and  prominent  political  events  took  place  in  Baltimore,      S 

Boston,  Charleston,  New  York,  Philadelphia  than  in  any  other 
city. 

6.  The  colonists  were  assisted  in  the  French  and  Indian  Wars  by  the      6 

Iroquois,  Mohegan,  Narragansett,  Pequot,   Wampanoag  Indian 
tribe. 

7.  The   right  of  woman   suffrage  was   granted   for   a  time  in   Conn.,      7 

Del.,  Mass.,  N.  J.,  Va. 

8.  Local  business  affairs  in  the  New  England   settlements  were   gen-       8 


Standardizing  the  Material  27 

erally   managed  by  the  governor,   king,   mayor,   minister,   town- 
meeting. 

9.     The  welfare  of  the  New  York  colony  was  much  helped  by  the  very       9 
early    settlement    of    the    Huguenots    at    Albany,    New    Burg, 
New  Rochelle,  Saratoga,  West  Point. 

10.  The  strict  Puritan  church  of  early  New  England  gradually  gave  way     10 

to  what  was  later  known  as  Baptist,  Congregationalist,  Lutheran, 
Methodist,  Spiritualist  Church. 

11.  The   light  at  night  in  these  early  homes  came   from  candles,  elec-     11 

tricity,  gas,  kerosene,  torches. 

12.  The  Quakers  founded  Ga.,  Mass.,  N.  H.,  Pa.,  S.  C.  12 

13.  By  the  time  the  Mayflower  arrived  at  Plymouth  Rock,  it  had  crossed     13 

the  Antarctic,  Arctic,  Atlantic,  Indian,  Pacific  ocean. 

14.  The  most  common  means  of  travel   by  the  earliest  settlers  was  by     14 

aeroplane,  railroad,  steamboat,  trolley  lines,  walking. 

15.  The   United   Colonies  of  New  England  was   formed  in  1619,  1630,     15 

1643,  1683,  1763. 

16.  All    the   colonies    were    founded    by    men    from   Africa,   Asia,   Aus-     16 

tralia,  Europe,  South  America. 

17.  The  "Thirteen  Original  Colonies"  were  once  all  under  the  political     17 

control  of  England,  France,  Holland,  Spain,  Sweden. 

18.  Pocahontas  was  an  English,  French,  German,  Indian,  Spanish  girl.     18 

19.  Lord   Delaware  lived  in  England  nearly  all  the  time  he  was  gov-     19 

ernor  of  Del.,  Mass.,  N.  J.,  R.  L,  Va. 

20.  The  first  written  constitution  springing  from  the  people  and  creating    20 

a  government  was  in  Conn.,  Del.,  Mass.,  N.  J.,  Va. 
When  you  have  finished  turn  your  paper  over. 

Number  of  errors 

It  will  be  noted  that  there  is  some  overlapping  in  the  two  tests. 
This  was  done  to  see  if  certain  exercises  would  retain  their  rank 
when  conditions  were  kept  as  uniform  as  possible ;  and  further  to 
see  if  a  few  hundred  pupils  are  all  that  is  necessary  to  ascertain  the 
relative  difficulty,  or  the  ease  of  a  given  point  in  history.  That  the 
exercise,  "The  first  written  constitution  springing  from  the  people 
and  creating  a  government  in  America  was  in  Conn.,  Del.,  Mass., 
Penna.,  Va."  had  a  value  of  3.55  in  the  first  11  schools  and  a  value 
of  3.49  in  the  succeeding  7  schools  was  not  due  to  mere  chance. 
The  experience  with  this  exercise  and  the  others  used  in  both  tests 
showed  that  if  the  material  is  carefully  chosen,  administered  scien- 


28  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

tifically,  and  a  proportional  sampling  carefully  guarded,  only  a  few 
hundred  pupils  are  necessary  to  tell  the  relative  difficulty  of  a  list  of 
historical  points. 

Attention  is  called  to  the  dual  numbering  of  the  exercises  in 
Tests  II  and  III  and  Lists  X  and  Y.  The  numbering  at  the  right 
was  used  by  the  writer  in  checking  over  the  corrections  made  by 
pupils.  The  point  to  this  device  is  that  the  writer  found  it  more 
convenient  to  indicate  his  marks  on  the  right  hand  side  of  the  page 
where  the  right  hand  never  obstructs  the  view  in  a  quick  survey 
of  the  page.  This  last  suggestion  may  seem  like  a  trivial  point  but 
the  observance  of  such  details  facilitates  the  work  when  the  scoring 
runs  up  into  the  thousands  of  exercises  to  correct. 

SEC.  4. — Scoring  the  Exercises.  The  scoring  was  done  by  the 
writer  or  by  competent  assistants  under  his  direction.  In  all  there 
were  about  125,000  responses  of  pupils  to  check  over  respecting  Test 
I  alone;  6,000  for  Test  II;  14,000  for  Test  III;  and  46,000  for 
Lists  X  and  Y.  Counting  the  control  checks  that  were  used  respect- 
ing high  school  and  normal  school  students  more  than  192,000  pupils' 
responses  were  taken  into  consideration  in  the  scoring  to  produce  the 
results  desired.  In  the  case  of  Tests  I  and  II  each  exercise  was 
looked  over  to  see  if  it  had  been  worked  correctly  or  not.  If  an  error 
had  been  made  a  straight  line  was  drawn  obliquely  downward  at 
the  left  of  the  number  of  the  exercise  in  the  case  of  Test  I ;  but  to 
the  right  in  the  case  of  Test  II  since  the  numbers  of  the  exercises 
were  written  on  both  sides.  This  kind  of  mark  was  used  because 
it  is  quickly  drawn  and  easily  discerned,  being  away  from  the  hori- 
zontal of  the  printed  lines. 

Only  errors  were  counted.  They  were  less  in  number  taken 
on  the  whole ;  only  errors  were  considered  in  weighting ;  and  the 
errors  are  the  points  of  consideration  in  diagnosis.  The  number  of 
errors  on  each  paper  was  totaled  and  the  sum  placed  at  the  lower 
right  hand  corner  of  the  front  page. 

As  the  work  of  scoring  so  many  thousands  of  responses  soon 
borders  on  the  line  of  drudgery,  several  methods  were  used  to  expe- 
dite the  work.  Stencils  were  used  such  as  are  now  used  in  scoring 
some  of  the  current  Intelligence  Tests;  a  certain  rhythm  wras  main- 
tained by  the  use  of  a  phonograph;  but  the  most  effectual  plan 


Standardizing  the  Material  29 

devised  was  to  commit  to  the  point  of  mechanical  memory  the  correct 
answers  as  they  should  appear  in  order  in  running  down  the  exami- 
nation paper.  Any  departure  from  the  regular  order  or  correct 
responses  was  thus  readily  and  immediately  detected.  In  Lists  X 
and  Y  where  pupils  corrected  their  own  papers  it  was  necessary  only 
to  take  samplings  at  random  and  unusual  scores  to  see  if  the  correc- 
tions needed  to  be  checked  over.  In  Chapter  III  is  given  the  detailed 
directions  which  were  used  when  pupils  were  permitted  to  mark 
and  check  over  their  own  work. 

SEC.  5. — Tabulating  the  Results.  After  the  papers  had  been 
scored  it  was  necessary  to  tabulate  the  results  so  they  could  be 
analyzed  and  interpreted.  In  this  part  of  the  statistical  procedure 
the  writer  aimed  to  secure  accuracy,  speed,  simplicity  and  the  possi- 
bility of  checks  at  as  many  points  as  possible.  The  plan  adopted 
for  this  study  is  illustrated  in  Fig.  2.  The  tabulations  are  the  actual 
results  taken  from  the  errors  made  by  22  pupils  to  whom  Test  II 
was  given. 

PUPILS'  PAPERS  BY  NUMBER 


r  * 


!  i 

i 

! 


l 


/ 


/ 


/ 


7 
'7 


/ 


/  !/ 


/ 


/ 


7  7 


Vf 


/  JL  fr*t*{ 


FIGURE  2 

SHOWING  FORM  IN  WHICH  DATA  WERE  TABULATED 
FROM  TEST  I 


30  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

These  tabulations  of  school  by  school  were  made  on  cross  sec- 
tion paper  16"x21"  ruled  5  spaces  to  the  inch.  Every  fifth  line 
was  drawn  heavier  to  assist  the  eye  in  keeping  track  of  certain  points 
in  counting.  Along  the  top  of  each  sheet  were  written  the  num- 
bers corresponding  to  the  numbering  of  the  papers  handed  in  by 
the  pupils  examined.  There  was  thus  in  each  instance  as  many  col- 
umns needed  as  there  were  pupils  or  papers.  Every  fifth  number 
was  written  more  heavily  or  in  red  ink. 

Along  the  side  at  the  left  were  written  the  numbers  of  the 
exercises  corresponding  to  each  exercise  of  the  test.  In  tabulating 
the  scores  for  Test  I,  50  horizontal  lines  were  needed  for  each 
school.  Every  fifth  number  was  written  more  heavily  or  in  red  ink 
for  convenience  in  counting.  There  were  needed  60  of  such  large 
sheets.  They  were  held  together  by  strong  steel  clips,  and  pro- 
tected by  heavy  flexible  card  board. 

Errors  only  were  tabulated.  If  a  pupil  made  but  one  error  on 
the  test,  only  one  mark  was  placed  in  the  column  assigned  to  his 
paper.  The  other  spaces  of  that  column  were  left  blank.  An  error 
was  indicated  by  a  straight  line  drawn  diagonally  at  the  intersection 
of  the  proper  vertical  and  horizontal  spaces.  The  sum  of  the  num- 
ber of  marks  for  each  column  gives  the  total  number  of  errors  or 
score  for  each  pupil.  The  sum  of  the  number  of  marks  for  each 
row  gives  the  total  number  of  errors  made  by  all  the  pupils  of  the 
school  on  each  exercise.  The  grand  totals  of  the  sums  at  the  right 
of  the  page  and  along  the  bottom  are  equivalent.  These  totals 
serve  as  a  check  in  counting. 

Another  convenience  in  checking  was  found  worth  while  when 
the  papers  were  arranged  in  order  of  the  scores  made,  beginning  at 
the  smallest  number  of  errors.  The  papers  were  then  numbered 
consecutively  to  correspond  with  the  numbers  at  the  top  of  the  large 
tabulating  sheet.  In  addition  to  this  advantage  the  median  score 
for  any  school  was  found  almost  at  a  glance. 

As  a  check  on  the  accuracy  in  tabulating,  the  number  of  errors 
made  by  each  pupil  was  counted  as  fast  as  each  paper  was  disposed 
of.  This  total  equals  the  total  number  of  errors  recorded  at  the 
top  of  the  paper,  or  the  pupil's  score  on  his  own  paper.  Since  these 
two  numbers  check  all  along,  the  sum  of  the  errors  made  by  all 


Standardizing  the  Material  31 

pupils  equals  the  sum  of  the  errors  on  each  of  the  exercises,  the  former 
number  serving  as  the  standard. 

The  tabulation  thus  is  quite  rapid  and  easy  so  long  as  the  work 
is  close  to  the  numbering  at  the  left  of  the  sheet.  As  the  record 
of  each  pupil  moves  to  the  right  and  farther  away,  the  eye  strain  is 
increased.  The  writer  overcame  this  by  spacing  and  numbering  the 
plain  side  of  an  ordinary  school  ruler  in  duplicate  of  the  column  of 
numbers  representing  the  exercises  at  the  left  of  the  large  tabulating 
sheet.  The  numbers  were  written  in  red  ink  for  prominence  and 
durability.  This  ruler  was  moved  along  column  by  column  right 
at  the  space  provided  for  each  pupil's  record.  If  certain  guiding 
lines  for  the  ends  of  the  ruler  are  observed  even  the  tendency  to 
errors  is  slight  and  the  eye  strain  is  reduced  to  a  minimum.  Only 
after  the  discovery  of  these  useful  devices  in  tabulating  was  it  pos- 
sible to  dispose  of  the  routine  work  rapidly  and  easily. 


CHAPTER  III 

TENTATIVE  SCALES  IN  THE  FORM  OF  LIST  X 
AND  LIST  Y 

From  the  results  of  Test  II  and  Test  III  two  tentative  scales 
were  made  out,  and  administered  as  List  X  and  List  Y.  Exercise 
number  1  in  List  Y  \vas  devised  and  purposedly  added  with  the 
idea  of  trying  once  more  to  find  an  exercise  so  easy  that  all  pupils 
could  work  it  successfully.  This  exercise  reads,  "The  most  com- 
monly spoken  language  of  early  New  England  was  Dutch,  English, 
French,  Scandinavian,  Spanish."  Exercise  number  14  in  List  X  was 
added  with  the  purpose  of  seeing  if  it  would  turn  out  to  be  a  diffi- 
cult one.  This  exercise  reads,  "The  gap  in  location,  age,  and  ideals 
between  the  Northern  and  Southern  colonies  was  bridged  over  by 
the  founding  of  Del.,  Md.,  N.  J.,  N.  Y.,  Pa."  The  rest  of  the 
content  of  these  two  tests  is  given  in  full  in  this  chapter.  The  rank- 
ing in  difficulty  was  the  chief  consideration  in  making  the  selection 
for  these  lists.  In  case  of  alternatives,  frequency  of  use  in  later 
periods,  or  social  usage  determined  the  choice. 

The  method  of  administering  did  not  differ  in  principle  from 
the  method  used  in  the  preceding  experiments  but  it  was  written 
out  more  in  detail  for  the  benefit  of  the  supervisors  who  assisted  the 
writer  in  gathering  data.  The  chief  purpose  in  writing  up  these 
detailed  directions  was  to  try  out  the  plan  devised  in  the  preliminary 
work  whereby  pupils  could  assist  in  marking  and  correcting  their 
own  papers.  A  copy  of  these  directions  for  administering  the  exer- 
cises to  pupils  and  for  scoring  the  papers  is  here  given: 

EXERCISES  IN  UNITED  STATES  HISTORY 
Directions  to  Teachers  for  administering  Lists  X  and  Y: 

1.  Place  upon  the  blackboard: 

(a)  Columbus  discovered  Africa,  America,  Asia,  Australia. 

(b)  The  Revolutionary  War  began  in  the  year  1763,  1765,  1775,  1776. 

(c)  The  London  Company  was  formed  in  England,  France,  Holland, 
Italy. 

2.  Say   to    Pupils:     "Here    are   some    exercises    in    United    States    History. 

They  are  turned  into  historical  facts  when  a  line  is  drawn  around 
the  correct  one  of   the   several   suggested   answers."     Draw   a   line 

33 


34  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

around  America,  1775,  and  England  in  the  examples,  and  read  the 
e  ercises  as  correct  historical   facts. 

3.  "I   shall    pass   around   exercises   similar  to   these  which   are   worked    in 

the  same  way. 

4.  "Try  to  work  out  each  exercise  whether  you  are  sure  of  the  correct  an- 

swer or  not. 

5.  "Take  as  much  time  as  you  need,  but  no  more, 

6.  "When  all  have  finished  working  I  shall  read  the  correct  answers  and 

you  may  correct  your  own   papers. 

7.  "Mark  only  the  numbers  of  the  exercises  incorrectly  worked.     Use  an 

'X.' " 

8.  After  pupils  have  made  the   necessary  corrections,   direct  them   to   ex- 

change papers  and  keep  them, 

9.  Read  over  the  correct  answers  again   and   have  the   pupils  check  over 

the  papers  to  detect  any  errors  or  omissions  in  the  first  correction. 

10.  Place  on  the  blackboard  the  numbers  corresponding  to  the  exercises. 

11.  Say  to  Pupils:  "Look  on  the   papers  you   now   have  and   see   if  a   mis- 

take  was   made   in   working  out  the   first  exercise,   that   is   No.    1, 
If  so,  please  raise  your  hand  and  hold  it  up  until  I  take  the  count." 

12.  Count  the  number  of  hands  raised  and  place  the  sum  opposite  No.  l. 

13.  Repeat  the  process  until  the  number  of  errors  made  on  each   exercise 

has  been  correctly  determined. 

14.  Copy  the  results  for  each  set  of  exercises  and  send  them  and  the  papers 

to  Sturgiss  B.  Davis,  School  of  Education,  University  of  Pittsburgh. 

List  X 

EXERCISES  IN  UNITED  STATES  HISTORY 
COLONIAL  PERIOD 

Draw  a  line  around  the  correct  suggested  answer  in  each  Exercise. 

1.  When  the  earliest  colonists  arrived  in  America  they  found  the  land       1 

already   inhabited   by  the   Chinese,   Cossacks,   Indians,  Malays, 
White  men. 

2.  The     "Mayflower     Compact"     was     drawn     up     by    the    Baptists,      2 

Huguenots,  Methodists,  Pilgrims,  Quakers. 

3.  The  "Thirteen  Original  Colonies"  were  at  one  time  all  under  the       3 

political  control  of  England,  France,  Holland,  Spain,  Sweden. 

4.  The  most  common  means  of  travel  used  by  the  earliest  settlers  was      4 

by  aeroplane,  railroad,  steamboat,  trolley-line,  walking. 

5.  One  of  the  turning  points  in  our  Colonial   History  was  marked  by       5 

the  capture  of  Acadia,  Deerfield,  Louisburg,  Port  Royal,  Quebec 
in  the  French  and  Indian  War. 


Tentative  Scales  in  the  Form  of  Lists  X  and  Y  35 

6.  The  political  control  of  the  Dutch  in  America  came  to  an  end  when       6 

Governor     Stuyvesant     surrendered     to     the     English,     French, 
Germans,   Spaniards,   Swedes. 

7.  The  Quakers  founded  the  colony  of  Ga.,  Mass.,  A'.  H.,  Pa.,  S.  C.          1 

8.  The  first  attempt  of  the  English  to  colonize  in  America  was  in  what       8 

was  later  called  the  colony  of  Conn.,  Del.,  Mass.,  Pa.,  Va. 

9.  The  period  of  settlement  for  most  of  the  colonies  took  place  in  the  cen-       9 

tury   beginning  with   1400,   1500,  1600,  1700,  1800. 

10.  Local  business  affairs  in  the  New  England  settlements  were  generally     10 

managed  by  the  governor,  king,  mayor,  minister,  tov;n- meeting. 

11.  The  territorial  claims  of  the  English  in  America  were  established  by     11 

the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  America,  Paris,  Ryswick,  Utrecht. 

12.  The  strict  Puritan   Church  of  early   New  England   gradually  gave     12 

way  to  what  has  since  become  known  as  the  Baptist,  Congre- 
gationalist,  Lutheran,  Methodist,  Spiritualist  church. 

13.  The   first    written    constitution    in   the   colonies    springing    from    the     13 

people  and  creating  a  government  was  the  colony  of  Conn.,  Del., 
Mass.,  N.  J.,  Fa. 

14.  The   gap    in    location,    age,    and   ideals   between    the    Northern    and     14 

Southern   Colonies  was  bridged  over  by  the  founding  of  Del., 
Md.,  \.  J.,  A7.  Y.,  Pa. 

Put  number  of  errors  here 

List  Y 

EXERCISES  IN  UNITED  STATES  HISTORY 
COLOKIAL  PERIOD 

Draw  a  line  around  the  correct  suggested  answer  in  each  Exercise. 

1.  The  most  commonly  spoken   language  of  early  New   England   was       1 

Dutch,  English,  French,  Scandinavian,  Spanish. 

2.  Among  the  many  hardships  of  the  time  were  the  unexpected  attacks      2 

by  Arabian,  Chinese,  Cossack,  Indian,  \egro  warriors. 

3.  Every  one  of  the  colonies  was  founded  by  men  from  Africa,  Asia,       S 

Australia,   Europe,  South  America. 

4.  By  the  time  the  "Mayflower"  had  arrived  at  Plymouth  Rock  it  had      4 

crossed  the  Antarctic,  Arctic,  Atlantic,  Indian,  Pacific  ocean. 

5.  Under  the  "Treaty  Elm"  William  Penn  made  a  lasting  peace  with       S 

the  Canadians,  Huguenots,  Indians,  Negroes,  Puritans. 

6.  The  light  at  night  in  the  early  homes  came  from  candles,  electricity,      6 

gas,  kerosene,  phosphorus. 

7.  The  Colonists  and  English  soldiers  were  assisted  in  the  French  and 

Indian  War  by  the  loyalty  of  the  Iroguois,  Mohegan,  Narragan- 
sett,  Pequot,  Wampanoag  Indian  tribe. 


36  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

8.  To  stop  the  movement  of  the  Colonists  westward  the  French  soldiers       8 

built  a  line  of  forts  in  western  Conn.,  Mass.,  Md.,  N.  J.,  Pa. 

9.  More  lasting  and  prominent  political  events  took  place  in  Baltimore,       9 

Boston,  Charleston,  Ne<w  York,  Philadelphia  than  in   any  other 
one  city. 

10.  The  colony  of  South  Carolina  was  noted  for  the  very  early  settlement     10 

of  the  Baptists,  Catholics,  Huguenots,  Lutherans,  Methodists,  in 
the  founding  of  Charleston. 

11.  The     last    colony    was    founded     in    the    15th,    16th,    17th,    18th,     11 

19th  century. 

12.  "Braddock's   Defeat"   occurred   in   the  First,  Second,    Third,  Fourth     12 

French   and   Indian,   or   Inter-Colonial   War. 

13.  The  "United  Colonies  of  New  England"  was  formed  in  1634,  1643,     13 

1683,  1733,  1774. 

14.  Lord  Delaware  lived  in  England  nearly  all  the  time  he  was  governor     14 

of  Conn.,  Del,  N.  J.,  R.  I.,  Va. 

Your  teacher  will  read  the  correct  answers.  Mark  any  Exercises  missed 
on  the  left  side  with  an  "X."  Count  the  number  of  Exercises  missed  and 
place  the  sum  here. 

Number  missed 

These  lists  were  submitted  to  1,564  pupils  early  in  1920. 
Many  of  the  pupils  were  in  schools  of  the  city  of  Pittsburgh  where 
a  double  promotion  system  is  in  practice.  The  pupils  tested  were  in 
most  cases  nearly  ready  for  the  mid-year  promotion  to  high  school. 
Some  of  the  schools  were  in  boroughs  near  the  city  where  there 
was  also  the  mid-year  promotion  system.  Sixteen  schools  in  widely 
separated  sections  were  chosen.  All  the  work  was  done  by  the 
writer  or  by  competent  supervisors. 

The  consistency  of  the  results  from  these  1,564  pupils  when 
compared  with  the  previous  data  on  the  same  exercises  convinced 
the  writer  that  the  many  long  hours  he  spent  in  scoring  and  tabu- 
lating the  results  of  Tests  I  and  II  were  expended  unnecessarily. 
If  all  the  steps  are  well  planned  in  advance  and  if  the  teachers  help 
to  guard  against  irregularities  among  pupils,  and  count  the  show  of 
hands  for  errors,  all  the  necessary  data  for  weighting  questions  may 
be  had  right  in  the  classroom.  In  one  instance  260  pupils  were 
gathered  in  an  assembly  room.  They  were  seated  in  groups  in 
alternate  seats.  Each  teacher  was  detailed  to  give  an  account  of 


Tentative  Scales  in  the  Form  of  Lists  X  and  Y  37 

her  own  group.  With  the  assistance  of  a  blackboard  and  carefully 
laid  plans,  all  these  pupils  were  examined ;  the  papers  corrected  and 
checked;  and  the  number  of  errors  on  each  exercise  tabulated  in 
little  more  than  a  double  classroom  period.  Tables  III  and  IV 
show  how  the  data  were  tabulated  as  saved  from  school  to  school. 
In  these  tables  are  designated  the  names  of  the  different  schools 
and  the  number  of  pupils  tested  in  each  one;  the  number  of  each 
exercise,  and  the  total  number  of  errors  made  by  the  1,564  pupils 
examined  on  each  of  the  exercises. 

All  that  was  necessary  in  addition  to  this  data  was  to  find 
what  per  cent,  of  all  the  pupils  examined  missed  each  of  the  exer- 
cises in  Lists  X  and  Y.  As  the  data  from  Lists  X  and  Y  could  be 
supplemented  by  the  data  from  the  preliminary  work  on  Tests  II 
and  III,  this  was  done.  The  number  of  pupils  tested  was  thus 
brought  up  to  either  2,064  or  2,266  for  each  exercise,  except  in  the 
case  of  number  13  in  List  Y  where  the  grand  total  was  2,766.  The 
values  given  in  Tables  V  and  VI  are  based  upon  these  numbers. 
Tables  VII  and  VIII  are  added  to  show  how  closely  the  ranking 
of  the  exercises  conforms  to  the  values  found  from  the  preliminary 
work  on  Tests  II  and  III,  and  that  the  remaining  exercises  in  Test 
II  and  III  might  be  used  at  will.  The  correlations  are  almost  per- 
fect by  Spearman's  formula. 

Before  concluding  this  chapter  it  should  be  stated  that  the 
author's  prior  estimate  of  the  ease  or  difficulty  of  an  exercise  was 
only  the  roughest  kind  of  an  approximation.  What  was  supposed 
to  be  a  very  easy  exercise  ranked  fifth  in  difficulty.  Other  similar 
instances  appeared  throughout  the  study. 


38 


Standardized  Exercises  in  History 


III 

0  5T 

NUMBER  OF  EACH   EXERCISE 

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Tentative  Scales  in  the  Form  of  Lists  X  and  Y  39 


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TABLE  IV—  SHOWING  HOW  DATA  WAS  RECORDED  BY  SCHOOLS 

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40 


Standardized  Exercises  in  History 


TABLE  V 
TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  ERRORS  MADE  ON  EACH  EXERCISE  IN  LIST  X 


Exercise 
Number 

Number 
of  Errors 

Same 
Exercise 
in  Test  II 

Same 
Exercise 
in  Test  III 

Grand 
Total 

Percentage 
Value 

Sigma 
Value 

1 

44 

6 

50 

2.42 

.63 

2 

49 

13 

62 

3.00 

.70 

3 

48 

'36 

84 

3.70 

.79 

4 

82 

64 

146 

6.44 

1.03 

5 

257  - 

257 

16.42 

1.55 

6 

230 

'84 

314 

15.20 

1.50 

7 

400 

183 

583 

25.71 

1.87 

8 

574 

173 

747 

36.15 

2.16 

9 

520 

200 

720 

34.85 

2.13 

10 

750 

428 

1178 

51.95 

2.53 

11 

857 

285 

1142 

50.36 

2.50 

12 

986 

571 

1557 

68.66 

2.97 

13 

940 

347 

493 

1780 

64.44 

2.85 

14 

956 

956 

61.09 

2.77 

Total     No.  of  Pupils     taking  each  test 

1564              500              702 

TABLE  VI 
TOTAL  NUMBER  OF  ERRORS  MADE  ON  EACH  EXERCISE  IN  LIST  Y 


Exercise 
Number 

Number 
of  Errors 

Same 
Exercises 
in  Test  II 

Same 
Exercises 
in  Test  III 

Grand 
Total 

Percentage 
Value 

Sigma 
Value 

1 

140 

140 

8.95 

1.19 

2 

38 

'27 

65 

2.87 

.69 

3 

72 

51 

123 

5.42 

.95 

4 

88 

60 

148 

6.53 

1.04 

5 

123 

123 

7.86 

1.13 

6 

177 

193 

370 

16.32 

1.54 

7 

325 

223 

548 

24.16 

1.82 

8 

512 

Io7 

679 

32.86 

2.07 

9 

496 

384 

880 

38.81 

2.23 

10 

754 

754 

48.18 

2.47 

11 

795 

504 

1299 

57.29 

2.67 

12 

950 

314 

1260 

60.98 

2.76 

13 

1107 

487 

1594 

70.30 

3.02 

14 

1155 

363 

550 

2068 

74.86 

3.15 

Total     No.  of  Pupils     taking  each  test 

1564              500              702 

Tentative  Scales  in  the  Form  of  Lists  X  and  Y 

TABLE  VII 
RANK  OF  EXERCISES  IN  LIST  X  IN  SECOND  TRIAL 


41 


Rank  and 
No.  of 
the 
Exercise 

Percent 
of  all 
Pupils 
Missing 

Sigma 
Value 

Rank  in 
Second 
Trial 

Abstract  of  Contents 
of  Each  Exercise 

1 

2.81 

.68 

I 

Indians  here  before  the  white  men  came 

2 

3.13 

.72 

III 

"Mayflower   Compact"   for   the   Pilgrim 

Fathers 

3 

3.07 

.71 

II 

England  controlled  13  original  colonies 

4 

5.24 

.93 

IV 

Walking  most  common  means  of  travel 

5 

16.42 

1.55 

V 

Capture  of  Quebec  turning  point 

6 

14.70 

1.48 

VI 

Stuyvesant  surrendered  to  the  English 

7 

25.56 

1.86 

VII 

Quakers  founded  Pennsylvania 

8 

36.68 

2.18 

IX 

Va.  colony  first  English  settlement 

9 

33.23 

2.08 

VIII 

Period  of  settlement  from  1600  to  1700 

mostly 

10 

47.93 

2.46 

X 

Townmeeting  managed  business  affairs 

11 

54.76 

2.60 

Xi 

Treaty     of     Paris     established     English 

claims 

12 

63.00 

2.82 

XIV 

Puritan    church     represented    by    Con- 

gregationalist 

13 

60.07 

2.74 

XII 

First  written  constitution  in  Conn. 

14 

61.09 

2.77 

XIII 

Pa.    bridged    gap    between    North    and 

South 

Correlation  by  Spearman's  "Footrule"  is  .98. 

TABLE  VIII 
RANK  OF  EXERCISES  IN  LIST  Y  IN  SECOND  TRIAL 


Rank  and 
No.  of 
the 
Exercise 

Percent 
of  all 
pupils 
Missing 

Sigma 
Value 

Rank  in 
Second 
Trial 

Abstract  of  Contents  of 
Each  Exercise 

1 

8.95 

1.19 

V 

English  Language  most  common 

2 

2.43 

.63 

I 

Indian  attacks  among  the  hardships 

3 

4.60 

.88 

II 

Men  from  Europe  founded  the  colonies 

4 

5.62 

.97 

III 

The    Mayflower    crossed     the    Atlantic 

Ocean 

5 

7.86 

1.13 

IV 

The    Treaty    Elm    marked    peace    with 

Indians 

6 

11.31 

1.32 

VI 

Candles  furnished  the  light  at  night 

7 

20.77 

1.71 

VII 

Iroquois  assisted  the  English  soldiers 

8 

32.72 

2.07 

IX 

French  built  a  line  of  forts  in  Pa. 

9 

31.69 

2.04 

VIII 

Philadelphia  a  political  center 

10 

48.18 

2.47 

X 

Huguenots  settled  Charleston 

11 

50.80 

2.50 

XI 

Last  colony  founded  in  18th  century 

12 

60.70 

2.76 

XII 

Braddocks  Defeat  in  French  and  Indian 

War 

13 

70.74 

3.03 

XIII 

"United    Colonies    of    New    England," 

in  1643 

14 

73.80 

3.12 

XIV 

Lord  Delaware,  Governor  of  Va. 

Correlation  by  Spearman's  "Footrule"  is  .97. 


CHAPTER  IV 

WEIGHTING  THE  RESULTS  OF  THE  DATA  ON  EACH 

EXERCISE 

SEC.  1.  —  Plan  of  Procedure.  After  tabulating  the  total  number 
of  errors  made  by  all  the  pupils  taking  each  exercise  these  numbers 
were  transformed  into  percentages.  The  first  question  answered  was  : 
what  per  cent,  of  all  the  pupils  examined  failed  in  exercise  number 
one,  two,  three,  four,  and  so  on  for  the  whole  list? 

The  plan  adopted  for  doing  this  was  as  follows:  a  blank  book 
of  cross  section  paper  was  procured  which  had  more  than  twice  as 
many  pages  as  the  number  of  exercises  to  be  weighted.  The  right 
hand  pages  of  the  book  were  numbered  consecutively  in  large  figures 
in  red  ink.  As  many  pages  were  numbered  as  there  were  exercises 
to  be  weighted.  In  a  column  at  the  left  on  these  pages  were  listed 
the  numbers  of  the  large  tabulation  sheets  in  which  the  data  from 
each  school  were  tabulated.  After  each  of  these  numbers  was  listed 
the  total  number  of  errors  found  for  each  exercise  on  the  large  tabu- 
lation sheet.  The  sum  of  these  numbers  taken  sheet  by  sheet  gave 
the  total  number  of  errors  made  on  any  given  exercise. 

On  the  left  hand  pages  of  the  book  were  made  the  necessary 
calculations  to  determine  the  weight  of  each  exercise.  These  calcu- 
lations consisted  in  finding  the  percentages  and  then  transmuting 
them  into  sigma  values.  When  the  data  on  the  1,250  pupils  tested 
in  1918  on  Test  I  were  utilized,  advantage  was  taken  of  the  con- 
venient quotient  given  when  100  is  divided  by  1250.  This  is  .08 
and  was  used  as  a  constant  multiplier  in  finding  the  percentage  of 
errors  made  on  each  exercise.  The  work  was  further  facilitated  by 
the  use  of  Crelle's  Calculating  Tables.  An  allustration  is  offered 
to  save  further  description.  On  a  certain  exercise,  X  pupils  failed 
out  of  the  1,250  examined.  Required,  to  find  the  percentage  of 
failure  in  this  instance. 

X  100  100          X 

-  X  -  =  -  X  —     = 


1250  1  1250          1 

When  the  equation  is  stated  in  this  form  it  is  evident  that  the  frac- 
tion   100/1250  is  a  constant  in  each  calculation,  and  the  variable 

43 


44  Standardized  Exercises  in   History 

is  always  the  number  of  errors  made  on  each  exercise.  Hence  the 
calculation  in  each  instance  is  reduced  to  multiplying  .08  through 
means  of  a  calculating  table  by  the  total  number  of  errors  made  on 
each  exercise. 

The  next  step  was  the  transmutation  of  these  percentage  values 
into  sigma  values.  This  was  done  by  means  of  the  tables  prepared 
for  such  a  purpose  by  Rugg.  Both  Tables  V  and  VI  in  this  man- 
ual were  considered  but  Table  V  was  chosen  because  it  is  built  upon 
the  usual  five  divisions  of  the  base  line  of  the  Normal  Curve  of 
Frequency.  It  is  also  accurate  enough  for  the  purposes  of  this  study. 

No  attempt  is  made  here  to  explain  the  Normal  Curve  of  Fre- 
quency or  its  use  in  finding  the  absolute  ease  or  difficulty  of  ques- 
tions. Its  use  is  now  widely  recognized  and  accurate  descriptions 
and  explanations  are  available  to  students  of  educational  problems. 

Many  investigators  of  educational  problems  have  used  the  P.  E. 
values  in  weighting  questions.  Sigma  values  were  used  in  this  study 
because  these  new  tables  of  Rugg  are  more  convenient  to  read  and 
the  values  may  be  found  directly  regardless  of  the  median  point  of 
reference.  The  sigma  unit  value  was  also  used  because  it  is  a  nat- 
ural function  of  the  Normal  Curve  and  is  widely  used  by  students 
in  Biology,  Sociology,  Agriculture,  and  Actuarial  Work. 

For  the  sake  of  comparison,  however,  the  P.  E.  values  of  Test  I 
were  calculated  and  compared  with  the  sigma  values.  In  order  to 
get  these  P.  E.  values  it  was  necessary  to  assume  a  point  of  reference, 
since  no  exercise  was  found  which  all  pupils  could  answer.  This 
point  of  reference  was — 4.3  P.  E.  from  the  mean  ordinate.  It  was 
derived  from  the  first  exercise  which  98.68%  of  the  pupils  worked 
out  correctly.  Table  XLVII  in  Buckingham's  Study  of  "Spelling 
Ability"  was  used  in  calculating  the  P.  E.  values.  Table  IX  of  this 
study  shows  the  comparisons  in  full. 

SEC.  2. — Tests  for  the  Reliability  of  the  Data.  Several  means 
of  checking  on  the  reliability  of  data  were  considered  before  the 
values  here  presented  were  considered  valid.  These  means  are  all 
discussed  in  books  on  Statistical  Method  and  need  only  to  be  men- 
tioned here. 

The  curve  of  errors  shown  in  Fig.  I  was  plotted  and  compared 
with  the  normal  curve  drawn  from  the  same  median  ordinate. 


Weighting  the  Results 

TABLE  IX 
COMPARISON  OF  P.  E.  AND  SIGMA  VALUES 


45 


No.  of 

Percent 

Difference 

P.  E. 

Dist.  in 

P.  E. 

Sigma 

Exercise 

Correct 

between  50% 

Values 

P.  E.  above 

Value 

Value 

and  Score 

Zero  Point 

1 

98.68 

-48.68 

-3.3 

1.00 

10 

4 

2 

68.00 

-18.00 

-    .693 

3.607 

36 

20 

3 

64.08 

-14.08 

-    .535 

3.765 

37 

22 

4 

63.08 

-13.08 

-    .496 

4.104 

41 

24 

5 

55.20 

-  5.20 

-    .194 

4.406 

44 

24 

6 

55.84 

-  5.84 

-    .216 

4.084 

40 

24 

7 

65.4 

-15.4 

-    .588 

3.712 

37 

21 

8 

20.04 

+29.96 

+  1.243 

5.543 

55 

33 

9 

74.96 

-24.96 

-     996 

3.004 

30 

19 

10 

52.20 

-  2.20 

-    .082 

4.218 

42 

25 

11 

55.04 

-  5.04 

-    .187 

4.113 

41 

24 

12 

85.64 

-35.64 

-1.576 

2.724 

27 

15 

13 

19.04 

+30.96 

+  1.296 

5.596 

55  + 

34 

14 

81.20 

-31.20 

-1.313 

3.287 

29 

16 

15 

29.84 

+20.16 

+   .782 

5.082 

50 

30 

16 

44.88 

+  5.12 

+   .187 

4.487 

45 

26 

17 

38.72 

+  11.28 

+   .426 

4.726 

47 

28 

18 

59.08 

-  9.08 

-    .341 

3.959 

39 

23 

19 

68.44 

-18.44 

-    .710 

3.590 

35 

20 

20 

47.36 

+  2.64 

+   .097 

4.397 

44 

26 

21 

60.20 

-10.2 

-   .383 

3.019 

39 

23 

22 

87.64 

-37.64 

-1.713 

2.587 

25  + 

14 

23 

74.64 

-18.64 

-   .719 

3.581 

35  + 

19 

24 

86.84 

-36.84 

-1.656 

2.644 

26 

14 

25 

90.16 

-40.16 

-1.980 

2.320 

23 

12 

26 

29/2 

+  20.68 

+   .807 

5.107 

51 

30 

27 

38.84 

+  11.16 

+   .422 

4.722 

47 

28- 

28 

71.52 

-21.52 

-    .842 

3.458 

34 

19+ 

29 

55.76 

-  5.96 

-    .213 

4.087 

41- 

24- 

30 

39.80 

+  10.20 

+   .383 

4.683 

47 

27 

31 

58.28 

-  8.28 

-    .311 

3.989 

40- 

23 

32 

55.40 

-  5.4 

-    .201 

4.099 

40+ 

24 

33 

18.92 

+31.08 

+  1.307 

5.607 

56 

34 

34 

37.56 

+  12.44 

+   .468 

4.768 

48 

28 

35 

56.92 

-  6.92 

-    .258 

4.042 

40 

23 

36 

68.16 

-18.16 

-     69S 

3.602 

36 

20 

37 

20.08 

+29.92 

+  1.243 

5.543 

55 

33 

38 

96.80 

-46.80 

-2.746 

1.554 

15 

7 

39 

42.92 

+  7.08 

+   .261 

4.561 

45 

26+ 

40 

72.00 

-22.00 

-    .864 

3.436 

34 

19 

41 

68.52 

-18.52 

-    .714 

3.586 

36- 

20 

42 

49.28 

+     .72 

+    .026 

4.326 

43 

25 

43 

86.88 

-36.88 

-1.663 

2.637 

26 

14 

44 

82.84 

-32.84 

-1.403 

2.897 

28+ 

16- 

45 

87.12 

-37.12 

-1.677 

2.623 

26 

14 

46 

59.32 

-  9.32 

-   .349 

3.951 

39 

23 

47 

53.68 

-  3.68 

-   .172 

4.128 

41 

24 

48 

21.76 

+28.24 

+  1.155 

5.455 

54 

32+ 

49 

60.80 

-10.80 

-   .407 

3.895 

39 

22 

50 

98.30 

-48.15 

-3.077 

1.223 

12 

5 

46  Standardized  Exercises  in   History 

The  same  curve  of  errors  was  smoothed  successively  until  no 
appreciable  change  was  evident. 

In  both  these  instances  the  theoretical  curve  did  not  differ  de- 
cidedly from  the  real  curve  obtained  from  the  responses  of  children. 

The  check  on  the  reliability  of  the  data  which  was  most  used 
was  the  consistency  shown  in  the  percentage  of  errors  pupils  made 
on  each  exercise  from  school  to  school.  In  the  case  of  each  test  there 
came  a  point  where  the  addition  of  more  data  from  pupils  made 
little  or  no  change.  When  that  point  was  reached,  no  further  data 
were  taken. 

Another  test  of  the  reliability  of  the  data,  though  an  indirect 
one,  was  the  constant  tendency  revealed  in  the  results  from  each 
school.  This  tendency  was  the  wide  variability  of  the  achievements 
of  individual  pupils.  Since  the  pupils  who  took  the  test  were  all 
the  most  advanced  ones  in  the  elementary  school  such  variability  was 
not  expected,  unless  it  was  due  to  inherent  mental  differences  which 
the  history  tests  brought  out.  These  statements  are  supported  by 
Table  X  which  shows  the  wide  range  of  errors  for  each  of  the  58 
schools  taking  Test  I. 

If  the  variability  was  due  to  the  inherent  capacity  of  pupils 
to  master  the  formal  requirement  of  the  school  in  United  States 
History,  the  scores  in  these  history  exercises  should  indicate  corre- 
lation with  the  scores  of  a  recognized  intelligence  test.  Table  XI 
was  prepared  from  the  scores  of  203  pupils  who  had  taken  the 
Pressey  Intelligence  Test  and  Test  III  of  the  history  exercises.  The 
scores  are  not  altogether  comparable  since  the  intelligence  test  is 
really  a  composite  of  several  tests,  each  intended  to  test  a  different 
mental  ability.  The  history  test  on  the  other  hand  invokes  prob- 
ably largely  the  factors  of  selective  judgment  and  recall.  How- 
ever, it  was  the  best  data  obtainable  at  the  time  on  this  point. 

An  examination  of  the  correlation  table  made  up  of  these  two 
classes  of  scores  shows  that  they  produced  much  the  same  general 
effect.  In  both  tests  the  variability  was  marked,  but  in  general  the 
brighter  pupils  made  the  better  history  scores.  The  median  score 
in  the  intelligence  test  was  140.6.  Only  twelve  pupils  ranking 
below  this  median  score  in  intelligence  made  a  high  score  in  the 
history  test.  Both  tests  also  showed  large  individual  differences  in 


Weighting  the  Results 

TABLE  X 

RANGE  OF  ERRORS  MADE  BY  INDIVIDUAL  PUPILS 
IN  THE  SCHOOLS  TAKING  TEST  I 


47 


Schools 

Range 

Schools 

Range 

1 

1-27 

XXX 

13-33 

II 

4-35 

XXXI 

5-27 

III 

8-34 

XXXI  i 

10-36 

IV 

11-33 

XXXIII 

2-28 

V 

17-31 

XXXIV 

7-28 

VI 

9-41 

XXXV 

4-33 

VII 

6-32 

XXXVI 

1-30 

VIII 

6-37 

XXXVII 

8-40 

IX 

5-32 

XXXVIII 

11-31 

X 

6-31 

XXXIX 

11-31 

XI 

5-30 

XL 

5-29 

XII 

7-26 

XLI 

7-29 

XIII 

5-25 

XLII 

9-37 

XV 

4-29 

XLIII 

9-36 

XV 

5-27 

XLIV 

7-13 

XVI 

7-25 

XLV 

2-32 

XVII 

11-33 

XLVI 

8-32 

XVIII 

13-36 

XLVII 

7-35 

XIX 

5-29 

XLVIII 

2-40 

XX 

7-27 

XLIX 

2-30 

XXI 

6-23 

L 

6-31 

XXII 

7-31 

LI 

9-36 

XXIII 

8-32 

LII 

4-38 

XXIV 

9-36 

LI  II 

12-36 

XXV 

17-40 

LIV 

1-18 

XXVI 

7-23 

LV 

7-35 

XXVII 

3-34 

LVI 

12-33 

XXVIII 

6-38 

LVII 

3-36 

XXIX 

11-38 

LVIII 

16-37 

the  pupils.  These  facts  suggest  that  the  material  of  the  history  test 
contained  exercises,  some  of  which  were  inherently  easy  and  some 
inherently  difficult.  This  last  statement  is  consistent  with  the  con- 
stant tendency  revealed  in  the  percentage  of  errors  pupils  made  on 
certain  exercises  when  the  attainments  of  pupils  were  compared  by 
schools. 

Having  found  the  marked  differences  in  the  scores  of  pupils  of 
the  same  school  it  was  pertinent  to  find  out  whether  the  same  char- 
acteristic would  be  found  among  the  different  schools  themselves. 
The  measure  used  for  this  test  of  reliability  was  the  coefficient  of 
dispersion  based  upon  the  semi-inter-quartile  range  and  the  median 
score  found  for  each  school  taking  Test  I.  Table  XII  shows  these 


48 


Standardized  Exercises  in  History 
POINTS  IN  PRESSY  INTELLIGENCE  TEST 


/;/! 


;/•  v 

!/  :    !/ 


Table  XI.     Correlation  table  showing  relationship  between  scores  correct  in 
Pressy  Intelligence  Test  and  Test  III  of  the  Exercises  in  Colonial  History 


coefficients  of  dispersion  for  each  of  the  58  schools  taking  the  test. 
The  difference  noted  in  the  range  is  inconsequential  when  the  facts 
are  known  about  these  two  schools.  The  school  in  which  the  lowest 
coefficient  was  found  is  one  whose  scope  is  limited  and  the  super- 
visor is  a  typical  drill  master.  The  school  in  which  the  highest 
coefficient  appeared  is  located  in  an  industrial  center  in  the  North- 
west. The  pupils  of  this  school  were  expecting  to  take  a  commer- 
cial course  the  following  year  in  the  high  school.  What  is  striking 
about  this  table  however  is  the  range  of  the  middle-fifty  per  cent, 
of  the  cases.  It  is  less  than  10  points;  Q  is  approximately  4.8;  and 
the  C.  D.  is  but  .22.  These  findings  are  consistent  with  the  state- 
ment given  out  by  the  New  Committee  of  Eight  on  courses  in  his- 
tory. This  statement  is  to  the  effect  that  the  present  content  of 
American  History  courses  for  the  Seventh  and  Eighth  Grades  is  the 
best  standardized  of  all  courses  in  history.  The  coefficient  .22  con- 
forms remarkably  well  with  the  index  of  variability  established  by 
Courtis  for  his  test  in  the  four  fundamentals  of  arithmetic.  His 


Weighting  the  Results  49 

standard  was  derived  in  approximately  the  same  way  and  is  given 
as  .20.  No  question  has  ever  been  raised  either  as  to  the  content  or 
value  of  the  data  upon  which  Courtis  derived  his  standard. 

In  concluding  this  topic  of  variability  the  writer  feels  justified 
in  saying  that  the  content  of  the  history  exercises  is  well  recognized 
material;  and  that  the  form  of  the  exercises  always  reveals  indi- 
vidual differences  in  the  same  class  or  school.  When  large  groups 
are  compared,  however,  the  performance  of  pupils  is  approximately 
uniform. 

Table  XII 

COEFFICIENTS  OF  DISPERSION  DERIVED  FROM  THE  SCORES  OF 
THE  58   SCHOOLS  TAKING  TEST  I 

Index  Frequency 

9  1 

11  2 

12  4 

13  2 

14  2  Range  =  9 — 40 

15  4 

16  2  Median  =  21.7 

17  4 

18  1  Q.  =  4.8 

19  1 

20  3  C.  D.  =  .22 

21  4 

22  4 

23  6 

24  1 

25  4 

26  2 
28  1 

30  4 

31  1 

33  1 

34  2 
37  1 
40  1 

Total  58 


50  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

gEc.  3. — The  Reading  Difficulty  of  the  Exercises.  In  evaluating 
the  reliability  of  pupils'  responses  the  reading  difficulty  must  be  taken 
into  consideration.  Can  the  assumption  be  maintained  that  pupils 
may  know  history  but  because  of  the  difficulty  of  the  form  of  the 
test  itself  they  do  not  know  what  is  wanted  of  them? 

Some  investigators  have  dismissed  this  question  by  saying  that 
if  pupils  cannot  read  their  school  texts  by  the  time  they  have  reached 
the  eighth  grade,  they  are  helpless  so  far  as  formal  schooling  goes. 
If  the  words  used  in  the  test  are  familiar  to  pupils,  and  if  the  con- 
struction of  sentences  are  not  unusual,  the  claim  of  these  investigators 
is  logical. 

In  order  to  get  direct  evidence  on  the  reading  difficulty  of  Test 
I  the  writer  submitted  the  exercises  one  by  one  to  individual  pupils. 
He  went  to  the  principal's  office  in  two  different  schools  and  selected 
children  from  the  eighth  grade  at  random  for  personal  interviews. 
In  each  instance  the  test  was  put  before  the  pupil  with  the  request 
that  he  read  the  exercise  and  simply  state  just  what  was  to  be  done 
after  reading  it.  No  answers  were  required,  and  no  comment  made. 
The  aim  of  the  examiner  was  to  get  the  pupil  to  think  out  loud. 

A  case  record  was  kept  for  each  pupil  by  noting  any  peculiarity 
or  difficulty  in  his  responses.  In  no  instance  was  there  a  single  pupil 
who  did  not  know  exactly  just  what  was  wanted  in  each  exercise. 
The  words  delusion,  influential,  indentured,  and  professional  were 
not  fully  comprehended  by  some  pupils  when  they  were  questioned 
after  the  examination,  but  in  each  case  these  same  pupils  gathered 
from  the  context  of  the  exercise  exactly  what  was  wanted.  These 
pupils  had  an  impressionistic  knowledge  of  these  difficult  words  and 
recognized  them  sufficiently  to  use  them  in  sentences.  In  the  case 
of  the  exercise  referring  to  the  "witchcraft  delusion  occurring  among 
the  Puritans,"  some  pupils  passed  over  the  word  delusion  and  asso- 
ciated witchcraft  with  Puritans  at  once.  Instances  were  found  where 
the  pupil  could  work  out  this  exercise  but  could  not  use  the  word 
delusion  readily  in  a  sentence.  The  examination  in  this  case  was 
conducted  somewhat  after  the  manner  of  Terman  in  the  vocabulary 
test  used  in  his  Stanford  Revision  of  the  Binet-Simon  Test  for  Intelli- 
gence of  School  Children. 

Another  instance  in  line  with  the  above  came  out  in  respect 
to  the  word,  indentured.  One  pupil  remarked  when  questioned 


Weighting  the  Results  51 

about  its  use  in  the  exercise,  "You  do  not  have  to  know  what  it 
means  exactly;  servants  and  slaves  gives  you  the  idea  of  what  is 
wanted/'  This  boy  knew  the  correct  answer  to  the  exercise  also. 
These  private  interviews  with  pupils  threw  much  direct  light  on  the 
reading  difficulty  of  these  particular  exercises  and  indicated  that 
the  mental  process  involved  was  associative  memory  to  a  marked 
extent. 

In  order  to  get  further  data  on  the  reading  difficulty  of  this 
type  of  testing  the  scores  of  241  eighth  grade  pupils  who  had  taken 
the  Monroe  Reading  Test,  and  Test  III  of  the  History  exercises, 
were  compared  in  a  correlation  table.  Table  XIII  reveals  at  a 
glance  that  the  degree  of  correspondence  is  low.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  it  is  so  low  that  it  is  negligible,  being  .04  by  the  Pearson  formula. 

Test  I  could  have  been  improved  by  simplifying  the  wording. 
However,  it  was  thought  wise  to  leave  the  exercises  in  the  original 
form  for  the  purpose  of  this  study.  All  the  words  in  the  test  are 
in  use  in  standard  text  books  and  teachers  have  not  criticized  their 
inclusion. 


SCORES  IN  HISTORY  TEST  III 


7  10  n 


'J  lt>  '7  /%   ' 


\  j~/fit 


i.  I 


TABLE  XIII 


Showing  Correlation  Between  Scores  in  Monroe  Reading  Test  and  Test  III 

in  History 


52  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

Lists  X  and  Y  represent  an  improvement  in  the  wording  of 
exercises.  Through  practice  one  can  readily  become  skilled  in  fram- 
ing exercises  that  meet  all  the  standards  set  up  in  Chapter  I.  In 
general  it  may  be  offered  that  so  long  as  the  vocabulary  of  the  exer- 
cises correspond  to  that  of  standard  text  books,  this  reading  difficulty 
of  words,  or  sentence  structure,  does  not  seem  to  be  at  fault  nearly 
so  much  as  the  lack  of  purpose  in  reading.  This  was  shown  very 
definitely  in  a  reading  test  prepared  by  the  writer  in  which  para- 
graphs were  taken  verbatim  from  a  school  history  which  the  pupils 
had  used. 

SEC.  4. — The  Element  of  Success  by  Chance.  Formula.  In 
addition  to  the  reading  difficulty  it  was  suggested  that  some  pupils 
were  successful  through  the  operation  of  a  chance  selection  of  the 
correct  one  of  the  several  suggested  answers.  The  tabulation  of  the 
scores  on  the  large  tabulation  sheets  where  all  the  scores  from  a  single 
school  could  be  seen  at  a  glance,  gave  no  evidence  of  the  operation 
of  the  law  of  chance.  The  difficult  exercises  were  worked  out  only 
by  the  pupils  who  made  good  scores  consistently  throughout  the  test 
as  a  whole.  When  pupils  were  questioned  individually  regarding 
the  reasons  for  the  answers  chosen,  they  always  gave  a  plausible 
explanation  even  though  their  answers  were  incorrect.  For  the  pur- 
poses of  diagnosis  it  was  desired  that  pupils  select  what  they  consid- 
ered to  be  the  correct  answer,  and  they  were  encouraged  to  try  each 
one  of  the  exercises.  In  no  instance  wras  there  found  evidence  of 
wild,  haphazard  guessing  at  the  correct  answer  among  pupils  who 
took  the  testing  material  for  it  was  all  more  or  less  familiar  to  them. 
They  thought  they  knew  whether  they  did  or  not. 

In  the  event  that  it  seemed  advisable  at  any  time  to  make  cor- 
rections for  the  element  of  chance  entering  into  the  scores  of  pupils, 
a  correction  formula  was  developed.  The  formula  was  suggested 
by  the  one  offered  by  McCall  which  he  used  in  eliminating  the 
effects  of  chance  selection  in  his  experiment  with  the  "True  and 
False"  type  of  of  examination.  This  is  given  in  an  article  entitled 
"A  New  Kind  of  School  Examination."  The  formula  offered  in 
this  instance  was:  "Pupil's  Score  —  (number  correct)  —  (number 
wrong."  Starting  with  this  formula  it  was  developed  so  that  any 
number  of  chance  selections  could  be  considered.  Simultaneously 


Weighting  the  Results  53 

Buckingham  did  the  same  thing  and  expressed  his  formula  as  follows: 

"S  =  c  — — —  where  S  is  the  score  after  account  has  been 

n — 1 

taken  of  the  elements  of  chance ;  c  is  the  number  of  correct  answers ; 
w  is  the  number  of  wrong  answers;  and  n  is  the  number  of  alter- 
natives offered  for  each  question." 

This  formula  is  especially  convenient  for  use  in  correcting  scores 
where  the  number  of  correct  results  are  always  wanted.  The  fol- 
lowing formula  is  more  convenient  where  the  test  is  long  and  the 
number  of  errors  only  are  considered  as  was  done  in  the  case  of  this 
study : 

True  Score  =  n  —    c       (w) 
c — 1 

where, 

n  =  the  number  of  exercises  in  the  test 

c  =  the  number  of  chances  in  each  exercise   of  guessing  the 
right  answer 

w  =  the  number  of  wrong  answers 

To  illustrate:  Suppose  a  test  contained  15  exercises.  There  were 
5  suggested  answers  in  each  exercise.  A  certain  pupil  made  12  errors 
on  his  paper.  The  answers  given  by  the  pupil  were  inconsistent 
with  his  training.  It  is  required  to  find  his  probable  true  score. 

Substituting  the  numbers  15,  5,  and  12  in  the  formula, 

True  score  =  15  --  *,(12)   =  0 

Instead  of  the  pupil  being  credited  with  a  score  of  3  correct, 
a  truer  estimate  of  his  real  knowledge  on  this  test  is  probably  zero. 

To  show  how  nicely  this  formula  works  out  when  the  true 
status  of  conditions  is  known,  the  following  additional  illustration 
and  analysis  will  make  the  point  clearer. 

Suppose  a  test  contains  20  exercises.  In  each  exercise  there  are 
5  chances  of  selecting  the  correct  answer.  I  know  the  answers  in 
5  different  exercises  for  certain.  I  am  ignorant  entirely  of  the 
rest  but  take  a  chance  at  hitting  the  right  ones.  When  my  paper 
is  returned  to  me  I  find  that  the  examiner  has  credited  me  with  8 
answers  correct. 

Now  a  score  of  8  is  absurd,  for  I  knew  only  five  answers.    The 


54  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

extra  three  credits  came  to  me  by  mere  chance.     A  score  of  five  is 
all  I  deserve;  for, 

20  =  the  number  of  exercises  in  the  test. 
5   =  the  number  of  answers  really  known. 
15  =  the  number  of  answers  not  known  at  all. 
3  =  the  number  of  answers  possible  to  get  correct  by  law 

of  chance. 
5  +  3  =  total  number  of  answers  correct  by  knowledge  and  by 

chance. 
20  —  8  =   12,  the  number  marked  wrong  by  the  examiner. 

True  Score  =  20  —  --(12)    =  5,     which  expresses  exactly 
the  score  I  deserve. 


CHAPTER  V 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  ALL  THE  STANDARDIZED  EXER- 
CISES INTO  SCALES  C  AND  D  AND  TESTS 
E  AND  F 

Since  the  data  gathered  from  Tests  I,  II,  III,  and  Lists  X  and 
Y  stood  the  proposed  tests  of  reliability,  all  the  85  exercises  were 
arranged  in  order  of  their  value  in  terms  of  the  sigma  unit.  This 
arrangement  is  given  in  Table  XIV. 

A  study  of  this  table  reveals  the  possibility  of  arranging  the 
different  exercises  into  scales  and  tests  based  upon  their  difficulty. 
Two  scales  and  two  tests  are  here  proposed.  Other  arrangements 
are  possible,  but  the  ones  given  illustrate  the  theory  of  procedure. 
The  organization  of  the  material  for  Test  E  will  be  considered  first. 

In  constructing  a  standardized  test  the  aim  should  be  to  include 
those  points  whose  difficulty  is  as  nearly  equal  as  possible.  By  ref- 
erence to  Table  XIV  it  may  be  seen  that  that  largest  number  of 
exercises  which  approximate  the  same  value  lie  between  the  sigma 
values  of  2.03  and  2.55.  On  each  side  of  these  points  in  the  dis- 
tribution, the  values  do  not  run  so  closely  together  in  such  a  large 
number  of  cases.  These  32  exercises  may  be  set  aside  tentatively  as 
the  possibility  of  a  standardized  test. 

On  further  examination  of  the  remaining  exercises  the  possi- 
bility of  a  scale  seems  evident.  The  word  scale  is  here  used  in  the 
sense  of  a  series  of  exercises  whose  values  differ  equally  from  one 
another  by  some  adopted  unit.  By  moving  the  decimal  point  in 
the  sigma  values  one  place  to  the  right,  and  then  forcing  the  num- 
ber to  the  next  unit  if  the  first  decimal  figure  is  greater  than  .5  and 
conversely  neglecting  the  decimal  figure  if  equal  to  or  less  than  .5, 
a  series  of  16  values  may  be  found  which  differ  from  one  another 
by  two  points.  Such  a  series  of  exercises  is  offered  in  the  form  of 
Scale  C.  The  actual  sigma  values  and  approximations  are  given  in 
the  score  sheet  for  Scale  C. 

On  further  examination  of  the  distribution  of  the  sigma  values, 
the  possibility  of  another  scale  is  seen  if  a  unit  of  .25  is  taken  as  the 
basis.  Such  a  scale  is  offered  in  the  series  of  exercises  in  the  form 
of  Scale  D.  The  values  for  the  proposed  scale  are  given  in  the 

55 


56  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

score  sheet  for  Scale  D.  The  guide  to  forming  this  scale  was  the 
succession  of  steps  running  from  .50  up  to  3.25.  The  12  exercises 
presented  approximate  these  steps  quite  closely. 

Table  XIV 

THE   ABSOLUTE   VALUES   OF   ALL   THE   EXERCISES   ARRANGED 

IN  ORDER 

VALUE  ABSTRACT    OF    CONTENT 

.43  The  Mayflower  was  a  ship. 

.54  The  White  men  found  the  Indians  here. 

.64  The  Pilgrims  came  from  England. 

.69  Sudden  attacks  from  the  Indians  were  among  the  hardships. 

.70  The  Mayflower  Compact  was  drawn  up  by  the  Pilgrims. 

.73  First  houses  were  generally  built  of  logs. 

.79  England  once  controlled  all  the  colonies. 

.95  Men  from  Europe  founded  the  colonies. 

.03  Walking  was  the  most  common  means  of  travel. 

.04  The  Mayflower  crossed  the  Atlantic  ocean. 

.13  The  Treaty  Elm  marked  a  lasting  peace  with  the  Indians  in  Pa. 

.19  English  was  the  most  commonly  spoken  language. 

.20  The  colonies  increased  to  13  by  the  time  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 

1.22  Pocahontas  was  an  Indian  girl. 

1.24  Pocahontas  is  said  to  have  saved  the  life  of  John  Smith. 

.37  New  York  was  founded  by  the  Dutch. 

.40  By  the  latter  part  of  the  18th  century  democracy  was  wanted. 

.41  The  City  of  Brotherly  Love  was  founded  by  William  Penn. 

.41  The  "Great  Treaty"  was  between  t^e  Indians  and  William  Penn. 

.46  The  Charter  Oak  was  a  tree. 

.50  The  Dutch  colony  surrendered  to  the  English. 

.54  Candles  furnished  the  light  in  the  early  homes. 

.55  The  capture  of  Quebec  was  a  turning  point  in  American  history. 

.58  The  French  and  Indian  War  was  the  most  impo'rtant  to  the  colonists. 

.64  The  English  were  the  most  numerous  of  all  the  nationalities. 

.82  The  Iroquois  Indians  assisted  the  English  against  the  French.. 

.85  Corn  was  the  principal  native  food  crop. 

.86  Tobacco  was  the  main   export  crop   from  Va. 

.87  The  Quakers  founded  Pa. 

.87  In   the   French    and   Indian   War  Washington   gained    experience    for 
the  Revolution. 

.94  Emigration  was  generally  westward. 

.95  The  Plymouth  Rock  is  in  Mass. 

2.03  Stuyvesant  was  the  last  of  the  series  of  Dutch  governors. 

2.04  Massasoit  kindly   received  the  Pilgrims. 

2.04     The  Act  of  Toleration  was  decreed  by  the  Catholics  in  Md. 


Scales  and  Tests  57 

2.05  Miles  Standish  led  in  fighting  the  Indians. 

2.05  Jamestown   was   founded   in    1607. 

2.07  The  French  built  a  line  of  forts  in  western  Pa. 

2.12  The  Witchcraft  Delusion  occurred  among  the  Puritans. 

2.13  The  period  of  settlement  was  from  1600  on  approximately. 
2.16  Roger  Williams  founded  R.  I. 

2.16  The  first  attempt  of  the  English  to  colonize  was  in  Va. 

2.23  Philadelphia   was  the  seat  of   permanent   political   events. 

2.26  Slavery  was  introduced  in  1619. 

2.28  The  Quakers  were  persecuted  by  the  Puritans. 

2.29  The  Holy  Experiment  was  tried  out  by  William  Penn. 

2.29  Geo.  Oglethorpe  founded  Ga.  to  help  poor  debtors  of  England. 

2.31  Indentured  servants  held  in  Va. 

2.34  First  settlement  of  Catholics  in  Colony  of  Md. 

2.37  First  Pilgrims  landed  in   1620. 

2.37  First  college  founded  was  Harvard. 

2.38  Sir  Edmund  Andros  was  the  Royal  Governor  of  New  England. 
2.38  William  Pitt  the  most  outspoken  friend  in  the  English  Parliament. 

2.38  Thomas  Hooker  led  in  founding  Conn. 

2.39  Bacon's  Rebellion  was  against  Lord  Berkeley. 
2.42  The  Spanish   once   invaded   Ga. 

2.44  The  Patroons  were   Dutch   landowners. 

2.45  New  Sweden  later  became  the  colony  of  Delaware. 

2.46  Mason  and  Dixon  line  surveyed  between  Pa.  and  Md. 

2.47  Huguenots  founded   Charleston.' 

2.50  Treaty  of  Paris  established  the  English  claims  in  America. 

2.51  The  Germans  settled  mostly  in  Pa. 

2.53  The  townmeeting  settled  local  business  affairs  in  New  England. 

2.55  First  settlement  of  the  Swedes  was  in  Delaware. 

2.61  Preachers  the  most  influential  professional  class  in  New  England. 

2.66  Ga.  was  the  last  colony  founded. 

2.67  The  last  colony  was  founded  in  the  18th  century. 

2.74  William  Claibourne  led  a  rebellion  against  Lord  Baltimore. 

2.76  Braddock's  Defeat  occurred   in  the  Fourth   Inter-Colonial  War. 

2.77  The  founding  of  Pa.  bridged  the  gap  between  the  North   and   South. 
2.80  William  Bradford  was  once  leader  of  the  Pilgrims. 

2.85  Conn,  had  the  first  written  constitution  springing  from  the  people. 

2.92  John  Winthrop  was  the  leader  in  founding  Boston. 

2.97  The  Congregational ist  Church  grew  out  of  the  Puritan   Church. 

3.01  The  government  of  early  Pa.  was   proprietary. 

3.02  The  United  Colonies  of  New  England  was  formed  in  1643. 

3.03  Rhode  Island  had  the  charter  form  of  government. 

3.05  The  right  of  woman's  suffrage  was  granted  for  a  time  in  New  Jersey. 
3.15      Lord  Delaware  resided  in  England  while  governor  of  Va. 
3.32      Boston  News  Letter  the  first  newspaper  in  America. 


58  Standardized  Exercises  in   History 

3.32  John  Berkeley  and  Geo.  Carteret  once  owned  N.  J. 

3.35  John  Locke  drew  up  the  Grand  Model. 

3.36  1619  marked  the  time  of  the  first  Representative  Assembly  in  A. 
3.39  Gorges  once  proprietor  of  Maine. 

3.45      The  Huguenots'  settlement  at  New  Rochelle  was  quite  prosperous. 

Since  Scale  D  is  comprised  of  only  12  exercises  its  construction 
may  be  used  to  show  how  scales  may  be  graphically  illustrated. 
Figure  3  was  drawn  for  this  purpose  and  the  explanation  of  it  is  as 
follows:  Let  the  line  A  B  represent  the  base  line  of  the  normal 
probability  curve  broken  off  at  2.5  on  each  side  of  the  mean  ordi- 
nate.  This  length  is  equivalent  to  a  base  line  of  5  divisions  with 
O  at  one  end  and  5  at  the  other.  If  each  of  the  sigma  units  be 
divided  into  100  equal  parts,  the  location  of  any  sigma  value  is 
easily  determined  when  the  graph  is  drawn  on  cross  section  paper 
ruled  10  lines  to  the  inch. 

Since  the  values  of  Scale  D  extend  approximately  from  .50 
to  3.25  with  a  unit  difference  between  any  points  of  .25  ,  the 
location  of  the  12  exercises  is  readily  apparent.  In  the  absence  of 
an  exercise  of  zero  and  .25  difficulty  the  first  exercise  must  be 
placed  at  .5  and  the  last  at  3.25  .  Exercises  3,  7,  and  11  fall  at 
1(7,  20  and  30  respectively.  The  intervening  values  fall  at  the 
successive  quarter  points  as  illustrated  in  figure  3.  All  the  values  of 
the  85  exercises  given  in  table  XIV  may  be  located  on  a  base  line 
divided  and  subdivided  as  the  line  A  B.  In  the  case  of  Test  E, 
described  more  fully  below,  all  the  26  values  fall  within  less  than 
half  the  distance  between  two  sigma  points. 

In  the  formation  of  these  two  scales,  values  are  needed  extend- 
ing throughout  nearly  the  whole  range  of  the  distribution  of  sigma 
values.  Six  out  of  the  32  exercises  set  aside  tentatively  to  form  a 
test  were  used  in  the  formation  of  Scales  C  and  D.  The  26  remain- 
ing exercises  out  of  the  32  set  aside  were  used  to  make  up  what  is 


A..  .  .  ,  /  .  J.  .  ?  .  1  A  .->.  .  T.  £  .  ?_&  X  $—  .  ,     _____  J3 

0 


FIG.  3  SHOWING  THE  LOCATION  OF  EACH  OF  THE  12 
EXERCISES  OF   SCALE    D. 


Scales  and  Tests  59 

here  presented  as  Test  E.  The  values  for  each  of  the  exercises  in  this 
test  are  given  in  its  accompanying  score  sheet.  By  reference  to  it 
one  sees  the  greatest  possible  difference  between  any  two  exercises 
is  less  than  .50  sigma.  When  the  values  of  the  exercises  are  grouped 
into  a  series  with  a  class  interval  of  .05,  the  average  sigma  value 
of  the  series  is  found  to  be  2.29;  the  standard  deviation  from  this 
central  tendency  is  but  .15,  and  the  coefficient  of  dispersion  based 
upon  the  average  and  standard  deviation  is  only  .068.  These  sta- 
tistical methods  were  applied  to  this  series  of  exercises  to  test  the 
homogeneity  of  the  list. 

After  Scales  C  and  D  and  Test  E  had  been  formed,  there 
remained  31  exercises  whose  values  did  not  conform  either  to  the 
definition  of  a  true  test  or  a  true  scale.  These  exercises  are  just  as 
valuable  for  testing  purposes  though  not  so  convenient  to  use.  Their 
value  for  the  diagnosis  of  a  pupil's  difficulties  is  even  better,  how- 
ever, than  the  other  proposed  measures  since  the  range  of  the  weight- 
ings is  greater.  These  31  exercises  were  then  arranged  in  order 
of  value  with  a  score  sheet  and  is  here  given  as  Test  F. 

Test  F  is  an  illustration  of  a  popular  conception  of  the  word 
test;  that  is,  a  series  of  questions  or  exercises  whose  value  is 
simply  known.  In  grading  a  pupil's  work  credit  should  be  given 
on  each  point  earned  in  proportion  to  its  absolute  value.  Test  E  is 
an  illustration  of  a  true  test  wherein  the  value  of  all  the  questions 
or  exercises  is  the  same  or  approximately  so.  A  pupil's  score  on 
such  a  test  equals  the  sum  of  the  points  earned  multiplied  by  the 
value  common  to  each  question  or  exercise. 

In  a  true  scale  the  questions  or  exercises  are  arranged  in  order 
of  the  values,  the  easiest  usually  of  zero  difficulty  being  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  list.  As  a  pupil  progresses  in  learning  he  is  able  to 
work  farther  down  the  list.  His  score  is  represented  by  the  value 
of  the  last  exercise  worked  successfully.  Theoretically  the  effort 
required  to  progress  from  one  point  to  the  next  is  the  same  since 
the  interval  between  any  two  points  is  a  constant  value. 

The  words  test  and  scale  have  been  much  used  interchangeably. 
The  distinction  here  given  is  offered  to  prevent  a  misconception  of 
the  two  scales  and  two  tests  presented  in  this  chapter. 


60  Standardized  Exercises  in   History 


SCALE  C 

1.  The  Mayflower  was  a  chapel,  hall,  hotel,  plant,  queen,  ship. 

2.  The   Pilgrim    Fathers    came    from    England,    France,    Germany,    Spain, 

Sweden. 

3.  The  ''Thirteen  Original  Colonies"  were  at  one  time  all  under  the  politi- 

cal control  of  England,  France,  Holland,  Spain,  Sweden. 

4.  The  most  common  means  of  travel  used  by  the  earliest  settlers  was  by 

aeroplane,  railroad,  steamboat,  trolley-lines,  walking. 

5.  Pocahontas  is  said  to  have  saved  the  life  of  Sir  William  Berkeley,  Jona- 

than Edwards,  William  Penn,  John  Rolfe,  John  Smith. 

6.  The  City  of  Brotherly  Love  was  founded  by  William  Berkeley,  George 

Calvcrt,  John  Endicott,  William  Penn,  John  Smith,  Miles  Standish. 

7.  Of  the  nationalities   represented   in   all   the  colonies  the  most  numerous 

were  the  Dutch,  English,  French,   Germans,  Irish,  Scotch,   Swedes. 

8.  The  principal   native  food   crop   was   barley,   corn,  oats,  potatoes,  rice, 

rye,  wheat. 

9.  The  Toleration  Act  in  Md.  was  decreed  by  the  Catholics,  Episcopalians, 

Puritans,  Quakers. 

10.  More  lasting   and   prominent   political    events   took    place   in   Baltimore, 

Boston,  Charleston,  New  York,  Philadelphia  than  in  any  other  one 
city. 

11.  The  Patroons   were   Dutch   fishermen,  fur   traders,   landowners,   miners, 

preachers,  teachers. 

12.  The  most  influential  professional  class  in  New  England  were  the  editors, 

lawyers,  physicians,  preachers,  teachers,  writers. 

13.  The  first  written  constitution  in  the  colonies  springing  from  the  people 

and  creating  a  government  was  the  colony  of  Conn.,  Del.,  Mass., 
N.  J.,  Va. 

14.  The  Charter  form  of  government  was  enjoyed  by  the  people  of  Del., 

Ga.,  Md.,  Pa.,  R.  I.,  Va. 

15.  Lord  Delaware  lived  in  England  nearly  all  the  time  he  was  governor 

of  Conn.,  Del.,  N.  J.,  R.  I.,  Va. 

16.  The  First  Representative  Assembly  held  in  America  was  in  1607,  1619, 

1620,  1643,  1754. 


Scales  and  Tests 


61 


SCORE  SHEET  FOR  SCALE  C 


No.  of 
Each 
Exercise 

The 
Correct 
Answer 

Approximate 
Value 

Sigma 
Value 

Suggested 
Practical 
Value 

1 

Ship 

4 

.43 

1 

2 

England 

6 

.64 

1 

3 

England 

8 

.79 

1 

4 

Walking 

10 

.03 

1 

5 

John  Smith 

12 

.24 

1 

6 

William  Penn 

14 

.41 

1 

7 

English 

16 

.64 

2 

8 

Corn 

18 

.85 

2 

9 

Catholics 

20 

2.04 

2 

10 

Philadelphia 

22 

2.23 

2 

11 

Land  Owners 

24 

2.44 

2 

12 

Preachers 

26 

2.61 

3 

13 

Connecticut 

28 

2.85 

3 

14 

Rhode  Island 

30 

3.03 

3 

15 

Virginia 

32 

3.15 

3 

16 

1619 

34 

3.36 

3 

62  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 


SCALE  D 

1.  When  the  colonists  first  landed  in  America  they  found  the  natives  to 

be  Chinese,  Indians,  Malays,  Negroes,  White  Men. 

2.  The  houses  of  the  first  colonists  were  generally  built  of  brick,  cement, 

dirt,  logs,  marble. 

3.  Every  one  of  the  colonies  was  founded  by  men  from  Africa,  Asia,  Aus- 

tralia, Europe,  South  America. 

4.  Pocahontas  was  an  English,  French,  German,  Indian,  Spanish  girl. 

5.  One  of  the  turning  points  in  our  Colonial  History  was  marked  by  the 

capture  of  Acadia,  Deerfield,  Louisburg,  Port  Royal,  Quebec  in  the 
French  and  Indian  Wars. 

6.  The   Colonists   and    English   soldiers   were  assisted    in   the   French   and 

Indian  Wars  by  the  loyalty  of  the  Iroquois,  Mohegan,  Narragan- 
sett,  Pequot,  Wampanoag  Indian  tribe. 

7.  The  last  of  the  Dutch  governors  was  Hudson,  Minuit,  Stuyvesant,  Win- 

throp,  Yeardley. 

8.  The    Quakers    in    Mass,    were    persecuted    by   the   Baptists,    Dutch    Re- 

formed, Methodists,  Moravians,  Puritans. 

9.  The  first  settlement  by  the  Swedes  was  in  Conn.,  Del.,  Ga.,  Md.,  Mass., 

N.  C.,  N.  H.,  N.  Y. 

10.  William  Bradford  was  once  Leader  of  the  Baptists,  Catholics,  Pilgrims, 

Quakers. 

11.  The   "United   Colonies  of   New   England"   was   formed   in   1634,   1643, 

1683,  1733,  1774. 

12.  The  first  newspaper  in  America  was  the  Boston  News  Letter,  New  York 

Times,  Philadelphia  Ledger,  Poor  Richard's  Almanac,  Providence 
Journal. 


Scales  and  Tests 


63 


SCORE  SHEET  FOR  SCALE  D 


No.  of 
Each 
Exercise 

The 
Correct 
Answer 

Approximate 
Value 

Sigma 
Value 

Suggested 
Practical 
Value 

1 

Indians 

.50 

.54 

1 

2 

Logs 

.75 

.73 

1 

3 

Europe 

1.00 

.95 

1 

4 

Indian 

1.25 

1.22 

1 

5 

Quebec 

1.50 

1.55 

2 

6 

Iroquois 

1.75 

1.82 

2 

7 

Stuyvesant 

2.00 

2.03 

2 

8 

Puritans 

2.25 

2.28 

2 

9 

Delaware 

2.50 

2.55 

3 

10 

Pilgrims 

2.75 

2.80 

3 

11 

1643 

3.00 

3.02 

3 

12 

Boston  News 

3.25 

3.32 

3 

Letter 

64  Standardized  Exercises  in   History 

TEST  E 

1.  The    Pilgrims    were    kindly    received    by    Chief    Canonicus,    Massasoit, 

Philip,  Poiuhatan. 

2.  Miles  Standish  led  in  fighting  the  Dutch,  Indians,  Puritans,  Swedes. 

3.  Jamestown  was  founded  in  1607,  1619,  1620, 1643,  1733,  1754. 

4.  To  stop  the  movement  of  the   Colonists  westward   the   French   soldiers 

built  a  line  of  forts  in  western  Conn.,  Md.,  Mass.,  Pa.,  N.  J. 

5.  The  Witchcraft  delusion  occurred  among  the  Baptists,  Catholics,  Dutch, 

Indians,  Puritans. 

6.  The  period  of  settlement  for  most  of  the  colonies  took  place  in  the  cen- 

tury beginning  with  1400,  1500,  1600,  1700,  1800. 

7.  Roger  Williams  founded* the  colony  of  Ga.,  Md.,  Mass.,  N.  C.,  N.  J., 

Pa.,  R.  I.,  S.  C.,  Va. 

8.  The  first  attempt  of  the  English  to  colonize  in   America   was  in  what 

was  later  called  the  colony  of  Conn.,  Del.,  Mass.,  Pa.,  Va. 

9.  Slavery  was  first  introduced  in  1607,  1619,  1620,  1643,  1683,  1775,  1787. 

10.  The  "Holy  Experiment"  was  tried  out  by  William   Bradford,   William 

Brewster,  Jacob   Leisler,  Peter  Minuit,   William   Penn. 

11.  To  help   the   poor   debtors   of   England   James   Oglethorpe    founded    the 

colony  of  Conn.,  Del.,  Ga.,  Md.,  N.  J.,  S.  C.,  Va. 

12.  Indentured    servants    and    slaves    were    held    mostly    in    Del.,    Ga.,   Pa., 

S.  C.,  Va. 

13.  The  first  settlement  of  the  Catholics  was   in    Conn.,   Del.,  Md.,   Mass., 

N.  C.,  N.  H.,  N.  J.,  R.  I. 

14.  The  first  Pilgrims  landed  in  1607,  1619,  1620,  1643,  1683,  1776,  1789. 

15.  The  first  college  founded  was  Brown,  Harvard,  Pennsylvania,  Princeton, 

William  and  Mary,  Yale. 

16.  The  most  outspoken   friend  of  the  colonists   in  the  English   Parliament 

was  Dinividdie,  Montcalm,  Pitt,   Towns hend,   Wolje. 

17.  As  Royal  Governor  of  New  England   Sir  Edmond  Andros  represented 

the  Common  People,  the  Continental  Congress,  the  English  Crown, 
the  Proprietors. 

18.  Thomas  Hooker  led  emigrants  from   Mass,   to  found    Conn.,   Del.,   Ga., 

Md.,  N.  J.,  N.  Y. 

19.  Nathaniel    Bacon    led    a    Rebellion    against    the    tyranny    of    Governor 

Andros,  Argall,  Berkeley,  Dale,  Minuit,   Winthrop,   Yeardley. 

20.  The  colony  of  Ga.  was    once    invaded    by    the    Dutch,    French,    Irish, 

Spanish,  Swedes. 

21.  The  New  Sweden  of  1638  later  became  known  as  the  colony  of  Conn., 

Del,  N.  H.,  Pa.,  R.  I. 

22.  The   Mason    and   Dixon   Line   was   established    between    Pa.    and    Del., 

Md.,  N.  J.,  N.  Y.,  Ohio. 

23.  The  colony  of  South  Carolina  was  noted  for  the  very  early  settlement 

of  the  Baptists,  Catholics,  Huguenots,  Lutherans,  Methodists  in  the 
founding  of  Charleston. 


Scales  and  Tests 


65 


24.  The  territorial  claims  of  the  English  in  America  were  established  by 

the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  America,  Paris,  Ryswick,  Utrecht. 

25.  The  Germans  settled  mostly  in  Md.,  N.  ].,  N.  Y.,  Pa.,  R.  I.,  S.  C.,  Va. 

26.  Local  business  affairs  in  the  New  England  settlements  were  generally 

managed  by  the  governor,  king,  mayor,  minister,  town-meeting. 


SCORE  SHEET  FOR  TEST  E 


No.  of 
Each  Exercise 

The  Correct 

Answer 

Approximate 
Value 

Sigma 
Value 

1 

Massasoit 

2 

2.04 

2 

Indians 

2 

2.05 

3 

1607 

2 

2.05 

4 

Pennsylvania 

2 

2.07 

5 

Puritans 

2 

2.12 

6 

1600 

2 

2.13 

7 

Rhode  Island 

2 

2.16 

8 

Virginia 

2 

2.16 

9 

1619 

2 

2.26 

10 

William  Penn 

2 

2.29 

11 

Georgia 

2 

2.29 

12 

Virginia 

2 

2.31 

13 

Maryland 

2 

2.34 

14 

1620 

2 

2.37 

15 

Harvard 

2 

2.37 

16 

Pitt 

2 

2.38 

17 

English  Crown 

2 

2.38 

18 

Connecticut 

2 

2.38 

19 

Berkeley 

2 

2.39 

20 

Spanish 

2 

2.42 

21 

Delaware 

2 

2.45 

22 

Maryland 

2 

2.46 

23 

Huguenots 

2 

2.47 

24 

Paris 

2 

2.50 

25 

Pennsylvania 

2 

2.51 

26 

Town-meeting 

2 

2.53 

66  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

TEST  F 

1.  Among  the  many  hardships  of  the  times  were  the  unexpected  attacks 

by  Arabian,  Chinese,  Cossack,  Indian,  Negro  warriors. 

2.  The  "Mayflower  Compact"  was  drawn  up  by  the  Baptists,  Huguenots, 

Methodists,  Pilgrims,  Quakers. 

3.  By   the  time  the   "Mayflower"   had    arrived    at   Plymouth   Rock    it   had 

crossed  the  Antarctic,  Arctic,  Atlantic,  Indian,  Pacific  ocean. 

4.  Under  the  "Treaty  Elm"  William  Penn  made  a  lasting  peace  with  the 

Canadians,  Huguenots,  Indians,  Negroes,  Puritans. 

5.  The  most  commonly  spoken  language  of  early  New  England  was  Dutch, 

English,  French,  Scandinavian,  Spanish. 

6.  By  the  opening  of  the  Revolutionary  War  the  number  of  colonies  had 

increased  to  twelve,  thirteen,  fourteen,  fifteen,  sixteen. 

7.  New  York  was  founded  by  the  Dutch,  English,  French,  Spanish,  Swedes. 

8.  By  the   latter   part  of  the   18th   century   the   form   of   government   most 

desired    by    the    colonists    was    aristocracy,    autocracy,    democracy, 
monarchy,  oligarchy. 

9.  The   Great  Treaty   was   between   the   Indians   and    Governor   Berkeley, 

John  Endicottj   Cotton   Mather,   William  Penn,  John   Smith,   Miles 
Standish. 

10.  The  Charter  Oak  was  a  church,  meeting  house,  painting,  school,  town 

hall,  tree. 

11.  The  political   control   of  the  Dutch  in  America  came  to  an   end   when 

Governor  Stuyvesant  surrendered  to  the  English,  French,  Germans, 
Spaniards,  Swedes. 

12.  The  light  at  night  in  these  early  homes  came  from  candles,  electricity, 

gas,  kerosene,  phosphorus. 

13.  The  most  important  of  the   Four   Inter-Colonial   Wars   to   the   colonists 

was    Queen    Anne's,    King    George's,    French    and    Indian,    King 
William's. 

14.  The  main  export  crop  of  early  Va.  was  corn,  cotton,  indigo,  rice,  tobacco, 

wheat. 

15.  The  Quakers  founded  the  colony  of  Ga.,  Mass.,  N.  H.,  Pa.,  S.  C. 

16.  George  Washington  was  fitted  for  leadership  in  the  Revolutionary  War 

through  his  experiences  in  the  Colonial  War  of  Queen  Anne,  King 
George,  French  and  Indian,  King  William. 

17.  In  emigrating  the  colonists  generally  went  east,  north,  south,  west. 

18.  The  "Plymouth  Rock"  is  in  Conn.,  Del,  Md.,  Mass.,  N.  J.,  N.  Y.,  Pa., 

R.  L,  S.  C. 

19.  The  last  of  the  thirteen  colonies  founded  was   Conn.,  Del,  Ga.,  Md., 

Mass.,  N.  C.,  N.  Y.,  Pa.,  S.  C.,  R.  L,  Va. 

20.  The  last  colony  was  founded  in  the  15th,  16th,  17th,  18th,  19th  century. 

21.  William  Claiborne  led  a  Rebellion  against  Lord  Baltimore,  Lord  Berkeley, 

Lord  Brook,  Lord  Delaware,  Lord  Say. 


Scales  and  Tests  67 


22.  "Braddock's  Defeat"  occurred   in  the  first,  second,  third,  fourth,  Colo- 

nial War. 

23.  The  gap  in  location,  age,  and  ideals  between  the  Northern  and  South- 

ern colonies  was  bridged  over  by  the  founding  of  Del.,  Md.,  N.  J., 
N.  Y.,  Pa. 

24.  The  leadership  of    John    Winthrop    was    noted    in    the    founding    of 

Baltimore,  Boston,   Charleston,   Philadelphia,  Providence. 

25.  The  strict  Puritan  Church  of  early  New  England  gradually  gave  way 

to  what  has  since  become  known  as  the  Baptist,  Congregationalist, 
Lutheran,  Methodist,  Spiritualist  church. 

26.  The  Proprietary  form   of  government  was   exercised   in  Mass.,  N.   Y., 

Pa.,  R.  I.,  S.  C.,  Va. 

27.  The  right  of  woman  suffrage  was  granted  for  a  time  in   Conn.,  Del., 

Mass.,  N.  J.,  Va. 

28.  John  Berkley  and  George  Cartaret  once  owned  Conn.,  Del.,  Ga.,  Md., 

Mass.,  N.  H.,  N.  J. 

29.  The   Grand    Model    was    drawn   up   by    Cecil    Calvert,   King    Charles, 

John  Locke,  John  Smith. 

30.  The  colony  of    Maine    was    once    under    the    proprietorship    of    John 

Davenport,    Sir    Ferdinando    Gorges,    Anne    Hutchinson,    William 
Kieft,  Roger  Williams. 

31.  The  welfare  of  the  New  York  colony  was  much  helped  by  the  very 

early    settlement   of    the    Huguenots    at    Albany,   New   Burg,   Ne<w 
Rochelle,  Saratoga,  West  Point. 


68 


Standardized  Exercises  in  History 


SCORE  SHEET  FOR  TEST  F 


No.  of 
Each  Exe  cise 

The  Correct 
Answer 

Approximate 
Value 

Sigma 
Value 

1 

Indians 

1 

.69 

2 

Pilgrims 

1 

.70 

3 

Atlantic 

1 

1.04 

4 

Indians 

1 

1.13 

5 

English 

1 

1.19 

6 

Thirteen 

1 

1.20 

7 

Dutch 

1 

1.37 

8 

Democracy 

1 

1.40 

9 

William  Penn 

1 

1.41 

10 

Tree 

1 

1.46 

11 

English 

1 

.50 

12 

Candles 

1 

.54 

13 

French  and  Indian 

2 

.58 

14 

Tobacco 

2 

.86 

15 

Pennsylvania 

2 

.87 

16 

French  and  Indian 

2 

.87 

17 

West 

2 

.94 

18 

Massachusetts 

2 

.95 

19 

Georgia 

3 

2.66 

20 

18th  Century 

3 

2.67 

21 

Lord  Baltimore 

3 

2.74 

22 

Fourth 

3 

2.76 

23 

Pennsylvania 

3 

2.77 

24 

Boston 

3 

2.92 

25 

Congregationalist 

3 

2.97 

26 

Pennsylvania 

3 

3.01 

27 

New  Jersey 

3 

3.05 

28 
29 

New  Jersey 
John  Locke 

3 

3 

3.32 
3.35 

30 

Gorges 

3 

3.39 

31 

New  Rochelle 

3 

3.45 

CHAPTER  VI 

USE  OF  THE  STANDARDIZED  EXERCISES  FOR 
SUPERVISORY  PURPOSES 

SEC.  1. — Reorganization  of  Proposed  Measures  into  Test  A 
and  Test.  B,  Part  I  and  Part  II.  The  formation  of  the  Scales  C  and 
D  and  Tests  E  and  F  illustrate  the  theoretical  procedure  in  organizing 
standardized  testing  material  for  supervisory  purposes.  In  the  opin- 
ion of  the  author  they  are  reliable  and  may  be  used  by  administra- 
tive officers  in  the  form  given.  However,  since  these  scales  and 
tests  were  designed  from  the  beginning  to  be  of  the  greatest  prac- 
tical value  possible,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  recast  all  the  fore- 
going measures  into  two  tests.  It  was  thought  that  such  a  revision 
would  render  the  use  of  the  standardized  exercises  much  easier  for 
class  room  teachers.  One  of  the  reasons  for  the  wide  and  accepted 
use  of  the  Courtis  Arithmetic  Tests,  the  Monroe  Reading  Test, 
and  the  Ayres  Handwriting  Scale  is  that  these  measures  are  so  easily 
understood  by  those  just  beginning  the  measurement  of  class  room 
products.  A  number  of  other  educational  measures,  all  theoretically 
correct,  are  not  in  use  simply  because  they  are  too  difficult  to  under- 
stand and  use  by  those  who  should  use  them  most.  The  writer 
therefore  has  sought  to  meet  the  needs  of  those  who  want  to  begin 
using  standardized  testing  material  by  recasting  all  the  foregoing 
Scales  and  Tests  into  the  forms  of  Test  A,  and  Test  B,  Part  I 
and  Part  II. 

The  basis  of  this  ^classification  was  to  put  into  Test  A  all 
those  exercises  whose  sigma  value  was  2  or  approximately  2.  This 
approximation  includes  all  the  exercises  of  Test  E;  exercises  13-18 
of  Test  F;  exercises  7-11  in  Scale  C;  and  exercises  5-8  in  Scale  D. 
Test  B  was  made  up  into  Part  I  and  Part  II.  Into  Part  I  were 
put  all  the  remaining  easy  exercises  with  a  value  approximating  1, 
and  into  Part  II  all  the  remaining  difficult  exercises  whose  value 
approximates  a  value  of  3.  By  so  doing  nothing  is  lost  in  reliability 
and  only  eight  per  cent  in  accuracy.  So  far  as  the  author  can  learn 
from  supervisors  who  have  tried  the  tests  the  approximations  are 
valid  and  readily  used  by  class  room  teachers. 

Test  A,  and  Test  B  with  manual  of  "Directions  for  Adminis- 

69 


70  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

tering,  Scoring  and  Using  the  Results"  are  here  reproduced  for  the 
convenience  of  those  who  wish  to  use  the  tests.  Judging  by  the 
numerous  inquiries  for  the  Tests,  there  seems  to  be  a  real  profes- 
sional interest  in  such  measures.  They  are  not  offered  as  finished 
products  but  as  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  tests  which  should  be 
more  accurately  gauged  because  of  the  experience  offered  in  the 
derivation  of  these  tests.  While  either  test  may  be  used  separately, 
both  should  be  used  if  the  achievement  of  a  class  is  to  be  carefully 
determined.  The  content  of  the  85  exercises  in  the  two  tests  in- 
clude all  the  points  usually  covered  in  the  elementary  school. 


Test  A  Score 

UNIVERSITY  OF  PITTSBURGH 
SCHOOL  OF  EDUCATION 

EXERCISES  IN  UNITED  STATES  HISTORY 
COLONIAL  PERIOD 
STURGISS  B.  DAVIS 

Directions  to  Pupils— Fill  in  these  blank  lines  with: 

Your  name School 

Grade ;  Age ;  City ;  Date 


On  the  succeeding  pages  are  historical  exercises  like  the  following: 

1.  Columbus  discovered  Africa,  America,  Asia,  Australia,  Europe. 

There  are  several  suggested  answers,  only  one  of  which  is  correct. 
That  one  of  course  is  America.  Draw  a  heavy  line  clear  around  it. 
This  exercise  is  now  worked  out  and  may  be  read  as  a  correct  historical 
statement,  Columbus  discovered  America. 

2.  The  New  World  was  discovered   in  the  year  WOO,  1453,  1492,  1497, 

1565. 

Draw  a  line  around  the  date  1492.  The  correct  historical  state- 
ment is,  The  New  World  was  discovered  in  the  year  1492. 

3.  The  first  man   to  sail   around  the  world  was  Balboa,   Cortez,  DeSoto, 

Drake,  Magellan. 

Draw  a  line  around  the  word  Magellan.  What  is  the  correct  his- 
torical statement  on  which  this  exercise  is  based? 

4.  Try  to  work  out  each  exercise  whether  you  are  sure  of  the  answer  or 
not.    Select  the  one  which  you  think  is  right  and  draw  a  line  around 
it.     There  is  always  one  correct  answer  in  each  exercise. 

5.  The  time  limit  is  12  minutes.    This  is  plenty  of  time  if  you  work  stead- 
ily, and  do  not  look  around. 

6.  Your  teacher  will  give  you  all  other  needed  directions.    Listen  carefully. 


Use  for  Supervisory  Purposes  71 

TEST  A 

1.  The    Pilgrims    were    kindly    received    by    Chief    Canonicus,   Massasoit, 

Philip,  Poiuhatan. 

2.  Miles  Standish  led  in  fighting  the  Dutch,  Indians,  Puritans,  Swedes. 

3.  Jamestown   was  founded  in   1607,  1619,  1620,  1643,  1733,  1754. 

4.  To  stop  the  movement  of  the   Colonists  westward   the   French  soldiers 

built  a  line  of  forts  in  western  Conn.,  Mass.,  Md.,  Pa.,  N.  J. 

5.  The  Witchcraft  delusion  occurred  among  the  Baptists,  Catholics,  Dutch, 

Indians,  Puritans. 

6.  The  period  of  settlement  for  most  of  the  colonies  took  place  in  the  cen- 

tury beginning  with  1400,  1500,  1600,  1700,  1800. 

7.  Roger  Williams  founded  the  colony  of  Ga.,  Md.,  Mass.,  N.  C.,  N.  J., 

Pa.,  R.  L,  S.  C.,  Va. 

8.  The  first  attempt  of  the  English  to  colonize  in  America  was  in  what 

was  later  called  the  colony  of  Conn.,  Del.,  Mass.,  Pa.,  Va. 

9.  Slavery  was  first  introduced  in  1607,  1619,  1620,  1643,  1683,  1775,  1787. 

10.  The  "Holy  Experiment"  was  tried  out  by   William  Bradford,   William 

Brewster,  Jacob  Leisler,  Peter  Minuit,   William  Penn. 

11.  To  help  the   poor   debtors  of   England   James  Oglethorpe   founded   the 

colony  of  Conn.,  Del,  Ga.,  Md.,  N.  J.,  S.  C.,  Fa. 

12.  Indentured    servants    and    slaves   were    held    mostly   in   Del.,    Ga.,  Pa., 

S.  C.,  Va. 

13.  The  first  settlement  of  the   Catholics  was  in  Conn.,  Del.,  Md.,  Mass., 

N.  C.,  N.  H.,  N.  J.,  R.  I. 

14.  The  first  Pilgrims  landed  in  1607,  1619,  1620,  1643,  1683,  1776,  1789. 

15.  The  first  college  founded  was  Brown,  Harvard,  Pennsylvania,  Princeton, 

William  and  Mary,  Yale. 

16.  The  most  outspoken   friend  of  the  colonists  in  the  English   Parliament 

was  Dinividdie,  Montcalm,  Pitt,  Wolfe,  Toivnshend. 

17.  As  Royal   Governor  of  New  England   Sir  Edmond  Andros   represented 

the  Continental   Congress,  the  English   Crown,  the  Proprietors,  the 
Common  People. 

18.  Thomas  Hooker  led   emigrants  from  Mass,  to  found   Conn.,  Del.,  Ga., 

Md.,  N.  J.,  N.  Y. 

19.  Nathaniel  Bacon  led  a  Rebellion  against  the  tyranny  of  Governor  Argall, 

Andros,  Berkeley,  Dale,  Minuit,   Winthrop,  Yeardley. 

20.  The    colony   of    Ga.    was   once    invaded    by    the   Dutch,   French,   Irish, 

Spaniards,  Swedes. 

21.  The  New  Sweden  of  1638  later  became  known  as  the  colony  of  Conn., 

Del.,  N.  H.,  Pa.,  R.  I. 

22.  The   Mason    and    Dixon   line    was    established    between    Pa.    and    Del., 

Md.,  N.  J.,  N.  Y.,  Ohio. 

23.  The  colony  of  South  Carolina  was  noted  for  the  very  early  settlement 

of  the  Baptists,  Catholics,  Huguenots,  Lutherans,  Methodists  in  the 
founding  of  Charleston. 


72  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

24.  The  territorial   claims  of  the  English  in  America  were  established  by 

the   treaty   of   Aix-la-Chapelle,   America,   Paris,   Rys<wick,    Utrecht. 

25.  The  Germans  settled  mostly  in  Md.,  N.  J.,  N.  Y.,  Pa.,  R.  I.,  S.  C.,  Va. 

26.  Local  business  affairs  in  the  New  England  settlements  were  generally 

managed  by  the  governor,  king,  mayor,  minister,  town-meeting. 

27.  The  most  important  of  the   Four  Inter-Colonial   Wars  to  the  colonists 

was    Queen    Anne's,    King    George's,    French    and    Indian,    King 
William's. 

28.  The  main  export  crop  of  early  Va.  was  corn,  cotton,  indigo,  rice,  tobacco, 

wheat. 

29.  The  Quakers  founded  the  colony  of  Ga.,  Mass.,  N.  H.,  Pa.,  S.  C. 

30.  George  Washington  was  fitted  for  leadership  in  the  Revolutionary  War 

through  his  experiences  in  the  Colonial  War  of  Queen  Anne,  King 
George,  French  and  Indian,  King  William. 

31.  In  emigrating  the  colonists  generally  went  east,  north,  south,  west. 

32.  The  "Plymouth  Rock"  is  in  Conn.,  Del.,  Md.,  Mass.,  N.  J.,  N.  Y.,  Pa., 

R.  I.,  S.  C. 

33.  One  of  the  turning  points  in  our  Colonial  History  was  marked  by  the 

capture  of  Arcadia,  Deerfield,  Louisburg,  Port  Royal,  Quebec,  in  the 
French  and  Indian  Wars. 

34.  The   Colonists   and   English   soldiers   were   assisted  in   the   French   and 

Indian  Wars  by  the  loyalty  of  the  Iroquois,  Mohegan,  Narragansett, 
Pequot,  Wampanoag  Indian  tribe. 

35.  The  last  of  the    Dutch    governors    was    Hudson,    Minuit,    Stuyvesant, 

Winthrop,  Yeardley. 

36.  The  Quakers  in  Mass,    were    persecuted    by    the    Baptists,    Methodists, 

Moravians,  Puritans,  Dutch  Reformed. 

37.  Of  the  nationalities   represented  in  all  the  colonies  the  most  numerous 

were  the  Dutch,  English,  French,  Germans,  Irish,  Scotch,  Swedes. 

38.  The   principal   native  food   was   barley,   corn,   oats,  potatoes,   rice,  rye, 

wheat. 

39.  The  Toleration  Act  in  Md.  was  decreed  by  the  Episcopalians,  Catholics, 

Puritans,  Quakers. 

40.  More   lasting   and   prominent  political   events  took   place   in   Baltimore 

Boston,  Charleston,  New  York,  Philadelphia  than  in  any  other  one 
city. 

41.  The  Patroons  were  Dutch  fishermen,  fur  traders,  landowners,  miners, 

preachers,  teachers. 

Number  Right X  2  =  Score 

Test  A  Score. . 


Use  for  Supervisory  Purposes  73 

UNIVERSITY  OF  PITTSBURGH 

SCHOOL  OF  EDUCATION 

EXERCISES  IN  UNITED  STATES  HISTORY 
COLONIAL  PERIOD 
STURGISS  B.  DAVIS 

Directions  to  Pupils — Fill  in  these  blank  lines  with: 

Your  name School 

Grade ;  Age ;  City ;  Date 

On  the  succeeding  pages  are  historical  exercises  like  the  following: 

1.  Columbus  discovered  Africa,  America,  Asia,  Australia,  Europe. 

There  are  several  suggested  answers,  only  one  of  which  is  correct. 
That  one  of  course  is  America.  Draw  a  heavy  line  clear  around  it. 
This  exercise  is  now  worked  out  and  may  be  read  as  a  correct  historical 
statement,  Columbus  discovered  America. 

2.  The  New  World  was  discovered  in  the  year  WOO,  1453,  1492,  1497, 

1565. 

Draw  a  line  around  the  date  1492.  The  correct  historical  state- 
ment is,  The  New  World  was  discovered  in  the  year  1492. 

3.  The  first  man   to  sail   around  the  world  was  Balboa,   Cortez,  DeSoto, 

Drake,  Magellan. 

Draw  a  line  around  the  word  Magellan.  What  is  the  correct  his- 
torical statement  on  which  this  exercise  is  based? 

4.  Try  to  work  out  each  exercise  whether  you  are  sure  of  the  answer  or 
not.    Select  the  one  which  you  think  is  right  and  draw  a  line  around 
it.     There  is  always  one  correct  answer  in  each  exercise. 

5.  The  time  limit  is  12  minutes.    This  is  plenty  of  time  if  you  work  stead- 
ily, and  do  not  look  around. 

6.  Your  teacher  will  give  you  all  other  needed  directions.    Listen  carefully. 

TEST  B— PART  I 

1.  Among   the   many   hardships   of  the  time   were  unexpected    attacks   by 

Arabian,  Indian,  Chinese,  Cossack,  Negro  warriors. 

2.  The  "Mayflower  Compact"  was  drawn  up  by  the  Baptists,  Huguenots, 

Methodists,  Pilgrims,  Quakers. 

3.  By  the  time   the   "Mayflower"   had   arrived   at  Plymouth   Rock   it  had 

crossed  the  Atlantic,  Antarctic,  Arctic,  Indian,  Pacific  ocean. 

4.  Under  the  "Treaty  Elm"  William  Penn  made  a  lasting  peace  with  the 

Canadians,  Huguenots,  Indians,  Negroes,  Puritans. 

5.  The  most  commonly  spoken  language  of  early  New  England  was  Dutch, 

English,  French,  Scandinavian,  Spanish. 

6.  By  the  opening  of  the  Revolutionary  War  the  number  of  colonies  had 

increased  to  twelve,  thirteen,  fourteen,  fifteen,  sixteen. 


74  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

7.  New  York  was  founded  by  the  Dutch,  English,  French,  Spanish,  Swedes. 

8.  By  the  latter  part  of  the   18th  century  the  form   of   government  most 

desired    by    the    colonists    was    aristocracy,    autocracy,    democracy, 
monarchy,  oligarchy. 

9.  The   Great  Treaty  was  between   the  Indians   and    Governor  Berkeley, 

John   Endicott,   Cotton   Mather,   William   Penn,  John   Smith,  Miles 
Standish. 

10.  The  Charter  Oak  was  a  church,  meeting  house,  painting,  school,  town 

hall,  tree. 

11.  The  political  control  of  the  Dutch  in  America  came  to  an  end  when 

Governor  Stuyvesant  surrendered  to  the  English,  French,  Germans, 
Spaniards,  Swedes. 

12.  The  light  at  night  in  these  early  homes  came  from  candles,  electricity, 

gas,  kerosene,  phosphorus. 

13.  When  the  colonists  first  landed   in  America  they  found  the  natives  to 

be  Chinese,  Indians,  Malays,  Negroes,  White-men. 

14.  The  houses  of  the  first  colonists  were  generally  built  of  bricks,  cement, 

dirt,  logs,  marble. 

15.  Every   one   of   the   colonies   was    founded   by   men    from   Africa,   Asia, 

Australia,  Europe,  South  America. 

16.  Pocahontas  was  an  English,  French,  German,  Indian,  Spanish  girl. 

17.  The  Mayflower  was  a  chapel,  hall,  hotel,  plant,  queen,  ship. 

18.  The  "Pilgrim   Fathers"  came  from  England,  France,  Germany,  Spain, 

Sweden. 

19.  The    "Thirteen    Original    Colonies"    were    at    one   time    all    under    the 

political  control  of  England,  France,  Holland,  Spain,  Sweden. 

20.  The   most    common    means   of   travel    by    the    earliest    settlers    was    by 

aeroplane,  railroad,  steamboat,  trolley  lines,  'walking. 

21.  Pocahontas  is  said  to  have  saved    the    life    of    Sir    William    Berkeley, 

Jonathan  Edwards,  William  Penn,  John  Rolfe,  John  Smith. 

22.  The  City  of  Brotherly  Love  was  founded  by  William  Berkeley,  George 

Calvert,  John  Endicott,  William  Penn,  John  Smith,  Miles  Standish. 

Number  Right X  1  = Score 

TEST  B— PART  II 

23.  The  last  of  the  thirteen  colonies  founded  was   Conn.,  Del.,  Ga.,  Md., 

Mass.,  N.  C.,  N.  Y.,  Pa.,  S.  C.,  R.  I.,  Va. 

24.  The  last  colony  was  founded  in  the  15th,  16th  17th,  18th,  19th  century. 

25.  William  Claiborne  led  a  Rebellion  against  Lord  Berkeley,  Lord  Brook, 

Lord  Baltimore,  Lord  Delaware,  Lord  Say. 

26.  "Braddock's   Defeat"   occurred   in  the  First,  Second,    Third,  Fourth  of 

the  French  and  Indian,  or  Inter-Colonial  Wars. 

27.  The  gap  in  location,  age,  and  ideals  between  the  Northern  and  South- 

ern colonies  was  bridged  over  by  the  founding  of  Del.,  Md.,  N.  J.t 
N.  Y.,  Pa. 


Use  for  Supervisory  Purposes  75 

28.  The  leadership  of    John    Winthrop    was    noted    in    the    founding    of 

Baltimore,  Boston,  Charleston,  Philadelphia,  Providence. 

29.  The  strict  Puritan  Church  of  early  New  England  gradually  gave  way 

to  what  has  since  become  known  as  the  Baptist,  Congregationalist, 
Lutheran,  Methodist,  Spiritualist  church. 

30.  The  Proprietary  form  of  government  was  exercised  in  Mass.,  N.  Y.,  Pa., 

R.  I.,  S.  C.,  Va. 

31.  The  right  of  woman  suffrage  was  granted  for  a  time  in   Conn.,  Del., 

Mass.,  N.  J.,  Va. 

32.  John  Berkley  and  George  Cartaret  once  owned  Conn.,  Del.,  Ga.,  Md., 

Mass.,  N.  H.,  N.  J. 

33.  The  Grand  Model  was  drawn  up  by  Cecil  Calvert,  King  Charles,  John 

Locke,  John  Smith. 

34.  The    colony    of    Maine    was    once    under    the    proprietorship    of    John 

Davenport,    Sir    Ferdinando    Georges,    Anne    Hutchinson,    William 
Kieft,  Roger  Williams. 

35.  The  welfare  of  the  New  York   colony  was   much   helped   by  the   very 

early  settlement   of    the    Huguenots    at    Albany,    New    Burg,    New 
Rochelle,  Saratoga,   West  Point. 

36.  The  first  settlement  by  the  Swedes  was  in  Conn.,  Del.,  Ga.,  Md.,  Mass., 

N.  C.,  N.  H.,  N.  Y. 

37.  William  Bradford  was  once  Leader  of  the  Baptists,  Catholics,  Pilgrims, 

Quakers. 

38.  The   "United    Colonies   of   New   England"   was   formed   in   1634,   164-3, 

1683,  1733,  1774. 

39.  The  first  Newspaper  in  America  was  the  Boston  News  Letter,  New  York 

Times,   Philadelphia    Ledger,    Providence    Journal,    Poor    Richard's 
Almanac. 

40.  The  most  influential  professional  class  in  New  England  were  the  editors, 

lawyers,  physicians,  preachers,  teachers,  writers. 

41.  The  first  written  constitution  in  the  colonies  springing  from  the  people 

and  creating  a  government  was  in  the  colony  of  Conn.,  Del.,  Mass., 
N.  J.,  Va. 

42.  The  Charter  form  of  government  was  enjoyed  by  the   people  of  Del., 

Ga.,  Md.,  Pa.,  R.  I.,  Va. 

43.  Lord  Delaware  lived  in  England  nearly  all  the  time  he  was  governor 

of  Conn.,  Del.,  N.  J.,  R.  I.,  Va. 

44.  The  First  Representative  Assembly  held  in  America  was  in  1607,  1619, 

1620,  1643,  1754. 

Number  Right X  3  =  Score 


76  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

*Directions  for  Administering,  Scoring,  Using  the  Results 

DIRECTIONS   FOR  ADMINISTERING  EXERCISES   IN 

UNITED  STATES  HISTORY 
To  TEACHERS: 

1.  These  exercises  are  not  intended  to  be  used  for  testing  purposes  until 
the  pupils  have  been  formally  instructed  in  the  period  of  history  on  which 
the  test  is  based. 

2.  Endeavor  in  so  far  as  possible  to  preserve  the  normal   attitude  of 
mind,  both  for  yourself  and  your  pupils.     Let  the  exercises  be  presented  as 
an  integral  part  of  the  usual  school  procedure. 

3.  Any  special   coaching,  or  announcement  of  the  test   previous  to  the 
hour   of   giving   it   is    entirely   inconsistent   with    good    work    in    educational 
measurement. 

4.  At  the  time  you  plan  to  administer  the  test  ask  the  pupils  to  clear 
their  desks  and  see  that  their  pencils  are  sharp. 

5.  Say  to  them:   "Today  we  are  going  to  find  out  how  well  we  learned 
many  of  the  points  we  studied  in  our  history  lessons.     I  shall  give  to  each 
of  you  a  folder  in  which  are  some  exercises  to  be  worked  out.     You  may 
look  at  the  first  page,  but  no  more,  until  I  give  the  signal  to  start  working." 

6.  Distribute  the  tests  by  placing  on  the  first  desk  of  each   row  suffi- 
cient copies  to  supply  the  pupils  of  the  row. 

7.  When   each   pupil   has  a  copy,  direct  everyone  to  fill   in  the  blank 
spaces  at  the  top  of  the  first  page. 

8.  After  the  blanks  have  been  filled  out,  say  to  them:    "You  may  now 
look  at  the  first  illustrative  exercise  on  the  front  page.    Read  it  over  silently 
as  I  read  it  aloud." 

'1.    Columbus  discovered  Africa,  America,  Asia,  Australia, 
Europe.' 

"There  are  several  suggested  answers,  only  one  of  which  is  cor- 
rect. That  one  is,  of  course,  America.  Draw  a  heavy  line  clear 
around  it.  This  exercise  is  now  worked  out  and  may  be  read  as  a 
correct  historical  statement,  Columbus  discovered  America." 

9.  "Look  at  the  next  exercise.     It  reads,  'The  New  World  was  discov- 
ered in  the  year  JOOO,  U53,  1492,  1497,  1565.'    Draw  a  line  around  the  date 
1492.    The  correct  historical  statement  is,  The  New  World  was  discovered  in 
the  year  1492." 

10.  ''Now  look  at  the  third  illustration,  'The  first  man  to  sail   around 
the  world  was    Balboa,    Cortez,    DeSoto,    Drake,   Magellan.'     Draw    a   line 

^Reproduced  from   Manual  to  Teachers,  title  page  omitted. 


Use  for  Supervisory  Purposes  77 

around   the   word    Magellan.     What   is   the   correct  historical    statement   on 
which  this  exercise  is  based?"     Let  some  pupil  read  it. 

11.  "All   the  other  exercises  in  this  test  are  worked  out  in  the  same 
way,  that  is,  by  drawing  a  line  around  the  right  one  of  the  several  sug- 
gested answers." 

12.  "Try  to  work  out  each  exercise  whether  you  are  sure  of  the  right 
answer  or  not.     Select  the  one  which  you  think   is  right  and  draw  a  line 
around  it.     There  is  always  one  correct  answer  in  each  exercise." 

13.  "The  time   limit   is   given  on   the  test.     This   is  plenty  of  time   if 
you  work  steadily  and  do  not  look  around." 

14.  "Does   every   one   understand   clearly   just   what   we    are   going   to 
do?" 

15.  Take   the   time    and   trouble   to    answer    any   questions    relating   to 
the  directions  for  working,  if  there  be  such. 

17.  At  the  end  of  the  time  limit  say,  "STOP!     I  shall  now  read  the 
right  answers  and  you   may  correct  your  own   papers.     Place  an  X  before 
the  number  of  each  exercise  you  missed.     Do  not  mark  the  correct  ones." 

18.  Read  the  exercises  as  correct  historical  statements  slowly  and  dis- 
tinctly.    No  erasures  are  permitted. 

19.  At  this  point  pupils  often   ask  very  good  questions.     It  is  a   psy- 
chological moment  to  drive  home  facts  that  have  been  forgotten. 

20.  When  the  pupils  are  satisfied  that  all  the  errors  have  been  marked, 
direct  that  the  papers  be  passed  forward,  and  collect  them. 

SCORING 

1.  Each  exercise  is  counted  as  wholly  correct  or  incorrect. 

2.  An  exercise  not  tried  is  counted  as  wrong. 

3.  Each  correct  exercise  has  a  value  of: 

2  in  Test  A 

1  in  Test  B;  Part  I 

3  in  Test  B;  Part  II 

4.  A  pupil's  score  is  the  sum  of  the  values  of  the  exercises  worked 
correctly.     Note  the  formula  at  the  bottom  of  each  list  of  exercises. 

5.  The  purpose  of  letting  the  pupils  mark  their  own  papers  is  to  call 
attention  to  their  own  errors.     These  marked  errors  also  assist  the  teacher 
in  scoring.     If  the  class  is  a  reliable  one  only  those  papers  need  to  be  re- 
viewed carefully  which  show  an  unusually  high  or  low   number  of  errors. 
Or  such  a  class  may  score  their  own  papers. 

USING  THE  RESULTS 
1.    The   median,   or   most   representative    score   for   the   class,    may   be 


78  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

quickly  found  by  arranging  the  papers  in  order  of  their  scores,  and  select- 
ing the  middle  paper.     Such  medians  may  be  used  for  comparative  purposes. 

2.  Such  comparisons  are  of  little  constructive  value.    Class  scores  and 
pupils'  scores  are  only  indications  of  the  trend  of  progress.     A  larger  use 
for  the  scores  obtained  is  to  find  out  what  specific  suggestions  they  give  for 
the  improvement  of  instruction.     These  Tests  are  especially  adapted  for  this 
purpose  thru   a  study  of  the  errors  made  by  pupils  on  any  given  exercise. 
For  the  purpose  of  illustration,   suppose  that  in  scoring  the   papers  it  was 
noted  that  many  pupils  failed  on  such  an  exercise  as,  "The  first  man  to  sail 
around  the  world  was  Balboa,  Cortez,  DeSoto,  Drake,  Magellan."     List  all 
the  suggested  answers  in  a  column  thus, 

Balboa,  Then    taking    each    paper    separately    tabulate    the 

Cortez,  number  of  times  each  answer  was  selected.     If  the 

DeSoto,  tabulation    is    fairly    well    distributed*    among    the 

Drake,  five,  it  indicates  that  most  of  the  pupils  have  prob- 

Magellan.  ably  no  definite  idea  of  this  point;  if  on  the  other 

hand  the  majority  of  mistakes  are  centered  at  the  word  "Drake"t  it  suggests 

that  many  pupils  have  not  cleared  up  the  distinction  between  the  voyages 

of  Magellan   and  Drake.     These  are  only  two  of  several  other  possibilities 

such  a  study  of  errors  will  reveal.     But  under  either  condition  it  is  evident 

that  this  point  needs  to  be  given  renewed  attention  in  class. 

Having  found  this  specific  source  of  low  scores  the  cause  can  usually 
be  found;  and  the  proper  class  procedure  to  prevent  its  repetition  is  gen- 
erally open  to  teachers  familiar  with  the  laws  of  learning. 

3.  It  should  be  noted  that  all  the  suggested  answers  in  the  exercises 
are  conservative  historical  material,  and  may  be  used  for  rapid  review  work. 
Some  are  more  important  than  others  but  all  have  an  impressionistic  educa- 
tional   value.     None   of   the    points    are   worthy   material    in    themselves    as 
such;   but  as  material   for  constructive  thinking  on  the  historical   problems 
of  this  period,  they  are  worth  while. 

*Suppose  the  class  consisted  of  25  pupils  and  the  distribution  was  as  in 
Illustration  /. 

"^Illustration  II  shows  how  the  answers  would  be  distributed. 

I.— Balboa   11111     1 
Cortez,   1  1  1 
DeSoto,  11111 
Drake,  11111 
Magellan,   11111    1 

II.— Balboa, 
Cortez, 
DeSoto, 

Drake,  11111    11111    1 
Magellan,  11111  11111   1111 


Use  for  Supervisory  Purposes  79 

SCORE  SHEET— TEST  A 
No.  of  each  exercise        Correct  Answer 

1  MASSASOIT 

2  INDIANS 

3  1607 

4  PENNSYLVANIA 

5  PURITANS 

6  1600 

7  RHODE  ISLAND 

8  VIRGINIA 

9  1619 

10  WILLIAM  PENN 

11  GEORGIA 

12  VIRGINIA 

13  MARYLAND 

14  1620 

15  HARVARD 

16  PITT 

17  ENGLISH  CROWN 

18  CONNECTICUT 

19  BERKELEY 

20  SPANISH 

21  DELAWARE 

22  MARYLAND 

23  HUGUENOTS 

24  PARIS 

25  PENNSYLVANIA 

26  TOWN-MEETING 

27  FRENCH  AND  INDIAN 

28  TOBACCO 

29  PENNSYLVANIA 

30  FRENCH  AND  INDIAN 

31  WEST 

32  MASSACHUSETTS 

33  QUEBEC 

34  IROQUOIS 

35  STUYVESANT 

36  PURITANS 

37  ENGLISH 

38  CORN 

39  CATHOLICS 

40  PHILADELPHIA 

41  LANDOWNERS 


80  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 
SCORE  SHEET— TEST  B,  PART  I 
No.  of  each  exercise        Correct  Answer 

1  INDIANS 

2  PILGRIMS 

3  ATLANTIC 

4  INDIANS 

5  ENGLISH 

6  THIRTEEN 

7  DUTCH 

8  DEMOCRACY 

9  WILLIAM  PENN 

10  TREE 

11  ENGLISH 

12  CANDLES 

13  INDIANS 

14  LOGS 

15  EUROPE 

16  INDIAN 

17  SHIP 

18  ENGLAND 

19  ENGLAND 

20  WALKING 

21  JOHN  SMITH 

22  WILLIAM  PENN 

SCORE  SHEET— TEST  B,  PART  II 
No.  of  each  exercise        Correct  Answer 

23  GEORGIA 

24  18TH   CENTURY 

25  LORD  BALTIMORE 

26  FOURTH 

27  PENNSYLVANIA 

28  BOSTON 

29  CONGREGATIONALIST 

30  PENNSYLVANIA 

31  NEW  JERSEY 

32  NEW  JERSEY 

33  JOHN  LOCKE 

34  GORGES 

35  NEW  ROCHELLE 

36  DELAWARE 

37  PILGRIMS 

38  1643 

39  BOSTON  NEWS  LETTER 

40  PREACHERS 


Use  for  Supervisory  Purposes  81 


41  CONNECTICUT 

42  RHODE  ISLAND 

43  VIRGINIA 

44  1619 


SEC.  2. — Value  of  the  Standardized  Exercises.  After  standard- 
ized testing  material  is  organized  into  as  easy  a  form  as  possible,  it 
is  pertinent  to  inquire  into  its  educational  value.  Supposing  that  a 
class  is  tested  and  the  scores  tabulated,  what  really  is  shown  ?  More 
specifically,  when  such  measures  as  Test  A  and  Test  B  are  given  to 
pupils,  what  is  measured  ? 

The  answer  to  this  question  has  been  volunteered  without  men- 
tion of  it  by  several  teachers  who  have  just  become  interested  in 
educational  measures.  Immediately  the  idea  is  offered  that  these 
particular  tests  reveal  pupils'  ability  in  verbal  memory  of  historical 
facts  and  in  this  ability  alone.  In  other  words,  the  responses  are 
mechanical.  Such  an  evaluation  of  these  tests  can  not  be  supported 
either  by  a  logical  analysis  of  the  exercises  or  case  studies  of  pupils 
at  work  on  the  tests. 

When  an  analysis  of  an  exercise  is  made,  it  shows  that  much 
more  than  verbal  memory  may  be  involved  in  working  out  the  cor- 
rect answers.  Just  because  a  pupil  does  not  write  out  a  long  para- 
graph in  the  selection  of  the  correct  one  of  the  several  suggested 
answers,  does  not  justify  the  position  that  verbal  memory  only  was 
employed  in  arriving  at  a  decision.  In  order  to  respond  with  such 
a  simple  answer  as  yes  or  no  to  a  given  query  may  involve  associa- 
tive memory,  logical  selection,  imagination,  and  judgment  of  the  most 
complex  nature.  As  the  writer  has  watched  pupils  work,  and  lis- 
tened to  their  thinking  out  loud  in  experiments,  he  is  convinced  that 
thinking  of  a  very  complex  type  has  often  been  involved.  Take  such 
an  exercise  as,  "The  Patroons  were  Dutch  fishermen,  fur  traders, 
landowners,  miners,  preachers,  teachers."  It  was  quite  possible  for 
these  early  settlers  to  have  been  engaged  in  any  one  of  these  activi- 
ties except  possibly  mining.  For  the  pupil  whose  knowledge  on  this 
point  is  not  clear  a  whole  complex  of  associations  and  selective  judg- 
ments may  be  necessary  to  arrive  at  what  seems  to  him  to  be  the 
logical  choice.  Since  there  can  be  but  one  accepted  answer  all  the 
other  suggestions  must  be  eliminated.  In  the  eliminating  process 
each  answer  must  be  taken  up  separately  and  considered  in  the  light 


82  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

of  known  facts.  They  might  have  been  fishermen  for  they  settled 
where  water  was  in  abundance,  but  no  facts  are  known  about  the 
manufacture  of  fish  products,  or  the  sale  of  them  direct.  Miners 
would  not  be  a  good  choice  for  nothing  is  known  of  this  region  as 
producing  minerals  of  value;  preachers  is  certainly  not  the  correct 
one  for  nothing  is  known  about  the  need  for  a  great  number  of 
them  in  a  settlement  where  religion  was  not  the  foremost  ques- 
tion; landowners  is  the  only  suggested  answer  that  brings  with  it 
any  associations  whatever  that  appear  sound  and  so  it  becomes  the 
logical  choice  of  the  lot.  Just  because  all  these  mental  processes 
take  place  almost  instantly  teachers  are  apt  to  conclude  that  the 
mental  process  was  verbal  memory.  But  the  situation  is  no  different 
from  that  of  the  business  man  who  decides  momentous  financial 
questions  seemingly  on  the  spur  of  the  moment.  However,  any  one 
familiar  with  the  conditions  knows  that  he  has  gone  through  a  whole 
train  of  thinking  before  giving  his  answer.  Pupils  do  just  as  quick 
thinking  on  the  playground.  Of  course  it  must  be  conceded  that 
it  is  just  possible  that  the  opposite  might  occur  but  it  would  result 
from  artificial  conditions.  Pupils  are  not  taught  history  by  the  "1001 
question  and  answer"  method  in  schools  of  the  present.  The  mate- 
rial is  well  organized  and  logically  presented.  Pupils  who  do  the 
work  of  the  school  respond  much  as  they  are  instructed. 

The  analysis  just  given  above  is  not  theoretical  but  illustrative 
of  the  kind  of  thinking  which  the  pupils  did  whom  the  writer  exam- 
ined. In  general  it  may  be  said  that  when  these  pupils  knew  the 
right  answer  they  expressed  it  at  once,  but.  when  they  were  in  doubt 
they  went  through  a  process  of  logical  selection  and  eliminated  one 
possibility  after  the  other.  This  was  especially  true  of  eighth  grade 
pupils  who  brought  to  bear  all  their  historical  knowledge  about  other 
periods  of  history,  and  their  knowledge  of  geography.  One  typical 
illustration  taken  verbatim  from  a  pupil's  "thinking  out  loud"  must 
suffice.  The  exercise  in  question  was:  "The  Mason  and  Dixon 
Line  was  established  between  Pa.  and  Del.,  Md.t  N.  J.,  N.  Y., 
Ohio."  "In  the  south  somewhere;  not  N.  Y.;  it  is  east;  line  runs 
from  east  to  west ;  Ohio  would  make  it  north  and  south ;  it  must  be 
between  Pa.  and  Md."  Not  all  the  pupils  were  so  fortunate  in 
their  process  of  elimination  but  it  seems  clear  that  there  was  always 
some  academic  basis  for  the  answer  chosen. 


Use  for  Supervisory  Purposes  83 

In  further  reply  to  a  prior  criticism  made  of  the  value  of  this 
form  of  testing  a  comparison  of  the  scores  earned  by  245  pupils  in 
the  Pressey  Rote  Memory  Test  and  Test  III  of  the  History  Exer- 
cises is  offered  as  more  evidence  that  the  criticism  cannot  be  sup- 
ported. The  comparison  was  made  on  the  assumption  that  if  rote 
memory  was  largely  involved  the  same  pupils  ought  to  make  high 
scores  or  low  scores  consistently  throughout  in  both  tests.  In  other 
words  the  scores  of  pupils  in  both  tests  ought  to  show  a  high  degree 
of  positive  correlation.  When  the  scores  from  each  test  are  tabulated 
in  a  correlation  table  the  results  are  shown  in  Table  XV.  An 
examination  of  the  frequencies  at  the  right  and  bottom  of  the  table 
shows  how  differently  pupils  reacted  in  each  instance.  With  but 
one  exception  the  scores  from  the  memory  test  range  throughout 
the  20  possibilities;  the  range  of  scores  in  the  history  test  however 
is  but  12.  While  the  distribution  of  the  frequencies  in  each  instance 
approximates  the  probability  curve  the  effects  of  other  mental  proc- 
esses at  work  are  clearly  evident  on  the  side  of  history.  The 
absence  of  correlation  is  further  revealed  in  the  distribution  of  the 
scores  on  the  surface  of  the  table.  Instead  of  the  scores  as  a  whole 
running  parallel  with  the  diagonal  of  high  positive  correlation  the 
tendency  is  just  the  opposite.  In  fact  the  coefficient  of  relationship 
is  negligible,  being  only  — .06.  The  outcome  of  this  experiment 
is  a  more  exact  basis  for  the  claim  that  the  history  exercises  here 
presented  test  a  high  quality  of  thinking  when  pupils  work  them  out. 

In  specific  answer  to  the  question  raised  at  the  beginning  of 
this  section  as  to  what  Tests  A  and  B  really  measure,  it  should  be 
stated  again  that  the  original  purpose  of  the  tests  was  to  measure 
only  the  amount  of  historical  information  pupils  possess  relative  to 
the  content  of  the  exercises.  How  pupils  gained  their  information; 
what  abilities  they  exercised  in  working  out  the  tests;  why  they 
succeeded  or  failed — none  of  these  questions  entered  into  the  pri- 
mary purpose  of  the  study.  The  value  of  the  tests  must  be  judged 
by  the  results  of  their  use  in  actual  school  conditions.  Evidence 
has  been  offered  to  show  that  the  information  which  pupils  produced 
was  not  a  mechanical  process  alone  as  some  have  supposed.  Rather 
all  the  evidence  points  to  the  conclusion  that  pupils  brought  to  bear 
all  the  mental  abilities  they  possessed  in  their  responses.  Whatever 
information  they  gave,  represented  all  they  had  to  offer  in  meeting 
the  requirements  of  the  tests. 


84 


Standardized  Exercises  in  History 
HISTORY 


JL 


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^T/^/7/f 


i'i 


/jz!  :/ 


i     \^\  / 


/ 

'7 
A  / 
*t 

6  I 
3ff 
3? 

•T 

I't 

7 


TABLE  XV 
Showing  correlation  between  the  Pressy  Rote  Memory  Test  and  History  Test  II 

Another  point  in  this  connection  has  been  developed  by  Buck- 
ingham in  an  article  entitled,  "A  Proposed  Index  of  Efficiency  in 
Teaching  United  States  History"  where  he  calls  attention  to  the 
self-delusion  of  teachers  and  pupils  in  regard  to  the  use  of  the  so 
called  higher  processes  in  studying  history.  Instead  of  discovering 
certain  special  relationships  in  historical  knowledge,  only  informa- 
tion has  been  employed  after  all.  The  examination  question  may 
contain  such  expressions  as,  "What  do  you  think,"  "Compare  and 
contrast,"  "How  do  you  know,"  etc.  Yet  the  rating  of  pupils  has 
been  based  largely  on  the  facts  produced. 

Van  Wagenen  has  devised  scales  based  upon  information  and 
character  judgment.  He  finds  a  high  degree  of  correlation  existing 


Use  for  Supervisory  Purposes  85 

between  the  results  of  these  two  kinds  of  tests.  Buckingham  con- 
tinued the  study  of  this  same  relationship  and  goes  so  far  as  to 
establish  an  index  of  relationship  between  the  two  sets  of  tests 
whereby  one  can  predict  the  ability  in  "Character  Judgment"  scores 
from  the  actual  scores  obtained  through  the  "Information"  tests. 
All  the  data  obtained  by  this  writer  point  to  the  validity  of  using 
carefully  worked  out  informational  tests  as  measures  of  historical 
ability. 

In  the  light  of  the  successive  points  just  given  it  is  clear  that 
the  hasty  criticism  of  history  teachers  mentioned  at  the  beginning 
of  this  section  is  not  valid.  It  is  equally  clear  that  the  present 
tendency  to  get  away  from  insisting  that  pupils  have  at  ready  com- 
mand a  lot  of  facts  and  details  is  not  sound.  The  writer  has  wit- 
nessed teachers  insisting  that  pupils  think  in  the  history  recitation 
when  as  a  matter  of  fact  clear  thinking  was  impossible,  for  the 
pupils  had  no  facts  on  which  to  base  their  reasoning.  This  should 
not  be  interpreted  as  a  plea  for  many  facts  taught  in  isolation,  but 
it  is  a  plea  for  teaching  many  more  facts  than  are  now  taught,  in 
meaningful  connections  and  to  some  purpose. 

In  further  support  of  the  issue  just  raised  an  abstract  is  pre- 
sented of  the  aims  in  teaching  history  as  formulated  by  the  New 
Committee  of  Eight: 

1.  Free  the  mind  from  the  trammels  of  time  and  place. 

2.  Produce  open-mindedness. 

3.  Induce  patient  inquiry  before  passing  judgment. 

4.  Give  the  rrlethods  of  investigation  and  tests  of  accuracy. 

5.  Develop  that  form  of  judgment  which  deals  with  the  shift- 
ing and  conditional  relations  of  men  in  society. 

6.  Yield  high  moral  and  ethical  concepts. 

These  aims  deserve  the  support  of  every  teacher  of  the  subject. 
In  the  accomplishment  of  them  more  stress  must  be  placed  upon  the 
weight  of  information  than  is  done  in  practice  according  to  the 
results  of  this  study.  A  little  consideration  of  this  point  impresses 
one  with  the  absurdity  of  expecting  pupils  to  think  intelligently 
without  a  clear  definite  knowledge  of  the  content  of  the  subject. 

SEC.  3. — Significance  of  the  Value  Found  for  Each  Exercise. 
Four  Different  Kinds  of  Historical  Material.  It  is  evident  that  the 
values  assigned  to  any  of  the  exercises  can  be  modified  by  departing 


86  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

from  the  standardized  conditions  of  the  present.  All  that  is  claimed 
for  these  values  is  that  they  represent  the  relative  difficulty,  and 
specific  difficulty  of  these  points  in  Colonial  History  under  the  con- 
ditions in  which  they  were  obtained.  In  other  words,  so  long  as 
this  period  of  our  country's  history  is  presented  in  schools  as  it  is 
now,  there  being  no  appreciable  difference  in  methods,  types  of 
teachers,  textbooks,  supplementary  reading  material,  hygienic  condi- 
tions; and  the  results  tested  by  the  means  used  in  this  study,  and 
confined  to  pupils  of  the  eighth  grade  about  to  enter  the  high 
school, — these  values  are  correct  for  large  groups.  This  may  appear 
to  some  readers  as  apologetic,  but  no  more  can  be  claimed  for  any 
standard  test  in  principle.  A  class  of  exceptionally  bright  pupils; 
a  selected  class  which  has  unusual  interest  in  historical  studies;  or 
a  teacher  who  is  exceptionally  strong  in  motivating  the  subject ;  any  of 
such  conditions  will  modify  the  values  considerably.  But  such  con- 
ditions are  not  applicable  to  the  general  run  of  history  classes  as 
one  finds  them  in  the  public  schools  of  today.  Only  unselected 
pupils,  unselected  teachers  and  unselected  material  were  considered  in 
obtaining  the  values  here  presented. 

Because  the  responses  came  from  eighth  grade  pupils  about  to 
enter  the  high  school,  and  in  most  instances  these  same  pupils  had 
completed  this  part  of  history  a  year  previous  to  the  test,  the  writer 
is  led  to  conclude  that  the  work  of  these  pupils  represents  approxi- 
mately the  net  tangible  results  of  the  history  instruction  relating 
to  the  facts  usually  taught  in  schools.  If  there  is  any  inherent 
differentiation  in  types  of  material  it  ought  to  appear  after  the 
immediate  advantages  of  drill  and  the  factor  of  recency  have  been 
minimized.  If  this  conclusion  is  valid  the  next  point  is  of  special 
interest. 

The  weighted  values  of  the  exercises  in  the  various  tests  indi- 
cate that  there  are  approximately  four  types  of  historical  material 
of  an  informational  character  now  taught  in  the  seventh  grade 
relating  to  the  Colonial  Period.  Table  XVI  was  made  up  from  the 
results  of  Tests  I,  II,  III,  and  Lists  X  and  Y,  and  the  sigma  values 
in  Table  XIV. 


Use  for  Supervisory  Purposes  87 

TABLE  XVI 
CLASSIFICATION  OF  EXERCISES  ON  BASIS  OF  CONTENT 

Political  Values 

Mason-Dixon  Line  2.46 

Grand  Model  3.49 

Proprietary  Government  3.03 

Charter  Government  3.03 

First  Representative  Assembly  3.43 

Ownership  of  N.  J.  3.39 

Philadelphia  a  Political  Center  2.46 

First  Written  Constitution  3.49 

Town  meeting  of  New  England  2.76 

Treaty  of  Paris  1763  3.04 

Pitt  in  English  Parliament  2.38 

Woman  Suffrage  in  N.  J.  3.05 

Lord  Delaware  Governor  of  Va.  3.12 

Dates 

Slavery   introduced  2.26 

Landing  of  Pilgrims  2.37 

Settlement  of  Jamestown  2.05 

Period  of  Colonization  2.50 

United  Colonies  of  New  England  3.35 

Last  colony  founded   (century  wanted)  3.08 

Reliffious 

Decline*  of  Puritan   Church  3.33 

Quakers  founded  Pa.  1.95 

Witchcraft  2.12 

Toleration  Act  of  Md.  2.77 

Huguenots  settled  Charleston  2.77 

Puritan  persecutions  in  Mass.  2.28 

First  settlement  of  Catholics  2.34 

Social 

City  of  Brotherly  Love  1.41 

English  most  numerous  nationality  1.64 

Indians  the  first  inhabitants  .51 

Dutch  settled  in  New  York  1.37 

Harvard  College  2.37 

Poor  Debtors  of  Ga.  2.29 

Emigration  Westward  1.94 

First  houses  of  logs  .73 

Pilgrims  came  from  England  .82 

Unexpected  attacks  of  Indians  .77 

Common  means  of  travel  1.23 

All  the  colonists  from  Europe  1.08 

Pocahontas  an  Indian  girl  1.22 

Candles  gave  light  at  night  1.97 

Colonists  all  under  English  control  .97 


88  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

From  the  above  it  seems  quite  clear  that  teachers  of  history 
need  to  give  more  attention  to  skill  in  teaching  political  matters 
than  is  now  devoted  to  them.  Nine  exercises  referring  to  political 
events  were  found  whose  value  is  3.00  sigma  or  above.  It  is  the 
exception  to  find  such  content  having  a  value  of  less  than  2.50 
sigma.  All  the  dates  in  the  tests  have  a  value  2.25  sigma  ex- 
cept that  referring  to  the  settlement  of  Jamestown  and  that  is 
above  2.0  sigma.  Religious  events  are  about  as  difficult  to  learn 
thoroughly  as  dates.  The  median  value  of  social  events  given  in 
the  table  is  1.23  sigma.  This  feature  of  the  study  points  to  the 
fact  that  teachers  may  profit  by  a  careful  analysis  of  the  material 
of  instruction,  and  then  stress  each  type  in  proportion  to  its  relative 
difficulty  in  learning  for  permanent  retention.  One  may  profit  in  a 
most  practical  way  by  a  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  different  kinds 
of  material  show  corresponding  degrees  of  inherent  difficulty  for 
learning  and  teaching. 

The  weighted  values  also  indicate  that  teachers  need  to  be  more 
specific  in  what  they  expect  pupils  to  learn,  or  need  to  teach  pupils 
methods  of  inference  in  thinking.  Just  because  pupils  are  taught 
that  the  Mayflower  vessel  started  from  Plymouth,  England,  and 
that  the  Atlantic  ocean  is  between  North  America  and  Europe,  is 
no  guarantee  that  pupils  will  work  correctly  Exercise  4  which  was 
included  in  List  Y,  "By  the  time  the  Mayflower  had  arrived  at 
Plymouth  Rock  it  had  crossed  the  Atlantic,  Antarctic,  Arctic,  Indian, 
Pacific  ocean."  Approximately  6%  or  148  pupils  failed  on  this  point 
which  seems  so  easy  that  every  one  would  be  successful.  The  pre- 
ceding exercise  in  the  same  list  illustrates  the  same  point.  This 
reads,  "Every  one  of  the  colonies  was  founded  by  men  from  Africa, 
Asia,  Australia,  Europe,  South  America!'  It  is  not  likely  that  such 
a  specific  question  as  this  is  ever  asked  by  teachers.  The  matter  is 
just  taken  for  granted  that  pupils  know  such  facts  from  the  other 
facts  they  have  been  taught.  However,  when  enough  pupils  fail  on 
such  a  simple  point  to  make  five  good  sized  classes,  it  is  evidence 
that  all  pupils  can  not  be  trusted  to  make  inferences  safely  without 
training. 

To  know  the  points  just  referred  to  above  pertaining  to  the 
different  types  of  material,  and  the  need  for  specific  training  in 
inference  is  alone  worth  all  the  effort  of  this  investigation.  They 


Use  for  Supervisory  Purposes  89 

are  an  outgrowth  from  the  primary  purpose  of  the  study  but  none 
the  less  valuable.  Standardized  tests  and  scales  are  valuable  in 
school  administration,  but  the  interpretation  of  them  is  the  most 
important  element.  They  need  to  be  scrutinized  in  the  light  of  all 
that  is  known  about  the  principles  of  Education,  its  history,  its 
administration  and  the  psychology  of  learning.  The  results  of  their 
use  is  but  the  beginning  of  thinking;  not  the  time  to  record  scores 
and  pass  to  something  else.  The  scientific  educator  of  the  future 
will  think  of  his  instruction  material  much  as  the  physician  does  of 
his  medicines.  He  will  not  prescribe  previous  to  an  intelligent 
diagnosis. 

SEC.  4. — Possible  Uses  of  the  Standardized  Exercises.  These 
tests  and  scales  are  submitted  to  teachers  and  supervisors  as  con- 
venient standardized  testing  material  for  finding  out  how  much 
information  a  pupil  or  a  group  of  pupils  has  concerning  the  details 
of  the  Colonial  Period  of  American  History.  If  administered  in 
standard  form  it  can  be  ascertained  in  the  time  of  a  single  class 
period  or  less,  just  what  facts  any  pupil  knows  or  does  not  know 
well  enough  to  use  immediately.  There  can  be  no  question  about 
the  issue  on  the  part  of  any  pupil,  parent  or  teacher  about  the  re- 
sults,— they  are  all  objective. 

They  may  also  be  used  for  rapid  review  work,  after  the  usual 
instruction  is  given,  as  all  the  facts  usually  presented  in  an  ele- 
mentary course  are  included  in  the  measures. 

They  may  be  used  also  for  comparison  of  the  results  of  instruc- 
tion by  schools  and  by  grades.  It  would  seem  that  seventh  grade 
pupils  just  completing  this  period,  or  eighth  grade  pupils  who  have 
just  reviewed  the  work  ought  to  make  higher  scores.  In  so  far 
however  as  seventh  grade  pupils  were  tested  they  did  not  make 
higher  scores.  When  tested  side  by  side  the  eighth  grade  pupils 
made  the  better  scores.  It  may  be  that  the  maturity  and  increased 
skill  of  the  latter  in  reading,  judging,  and  taking  tests  gave  them 
an  advantage  which  offset  the  disadvantage  of  the  lapse  of  time 
since  studying  these  facts. 

An  equally  useful  purpose  is  served  by  these  measures  when 
they  are  used  by  teachers  to  diagnose  the  deficiencies  in  individual 
cases,  or  classes.  The  beginning  of  the  information  needed  in 


90  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

diagnosis  is  afforded  by  a  tabulation  of  the  errors.  This  may  be 
done  in  the  time  of  a  single  class  period  by  the  assistance  of  pupils 
in  some  such  form  as  here  given. 

TABULATION  OF  WRONG  RESPONSES  MADE  BY  150  PUPILS 
TAKING  TEST  I 

7.  Witchcraft 

Baptists  6 

Catholics  34 

Dutch  20 

Indians  19 

8.  Owners  of  New  Jersey 

Conn.  11 

Del.  30 

Ga.  12 

Md.  15 

Mass.  18 

N.   H.  14 

Pa.  10 

9.  Native  food  crop 

barley  1 

oats  6 

potatoes  21 

rice  14 

rye  3 

wheat  2& 

10.  Mason-Dixon  Line 

Del.  47 

N.  J.  7 

N.  Y.  2 

Ohio  18 

11.  Bacon's  Rebellion 

Argall  3 

Andros  31 

Dale  2 

Minuit  7 

Winthrop  28 

Yeardley  3 

12.  Charter  Oak 

church  6 

meeting  house  23 

painting  3 

school  0 

town  hall  10 


1. 

Mayflower 

chapel 

hall 

hotel 

plant 

queen 

1 

2. 

Standish 

Dutch 

28 

Puritans 

50 

Swedes 

3 

3. 

Williams 

Ga 

15 

Md. 

17 

Mass. 

28 

N.  C. 

1 

N.  J. 

6 

Pa. 

7 

S.  C. 

3 

Va. 

4 

4. 

Patroons 

fishermen 

18 

fur  traders 

58 

teachers 

0 

preachers 

16 

5. 

Hooker 

Del. 

35 

Ga. 

16 

Md. 

15 

N.  J. 

11 

N.  Y. 

5 

6 

Harvard 

Brown 

3 

Penn 

7 

Princeton 

9 

W.  and  M. 

38 

Yale 

16 

13. 


14. 


15. 


16. 


17. 


18. 


19. 


20. 


Use 

for  Supervisory 

Purposes 

Grand  Model 

Md. 

16 

Calvert 

22 

Mass. 

15 

Charles 

35 

N.  C. 

5 

Smith 

57 

N.  H. 

20 

N.  Y. 

17 

Most  numerous  nationality 
Dutch                             43                    21. 

Slavery  introduced 

French 

6 

1607 

21 

Germans 

4 

1620 

29 

Irish 

0 

1643 

6 

Scotch 

3 

1683 

7 

Swedes 

4 

1775 

10 

1787 

15 

Proprietary  colony 

Mass. 

36                    22. 

New  York  founded 

N.  Y. 

17 

English 

27 

R.  I. 

22 

French 

5 

S.  C. 

7 

Spanish 

4 

Va. 

23 

Swedes 

0 

Professional  class 

23. 

Tobacco  in  Virginia 

editors 

19 

corn 

11 

lawyers 

30 

cotton 

50 

physicians 

g 

indigo 

7 

teachers 

9 

rice 

3 

writers 

33 

wheat 

•f 

Toleration  Act 
Episcopalians 
Puritans 

4                    24' 
46 

"Great  Treaty" 
Berkley 
Endicott 

7 
0 

Quakers 

62 

•     Mather 

0 

Oglethorpe  in  Ga. 

Smith 

9 

Conn. 

36 

Standish 

12 

Del. 

22 

Md. 

8                    25. 

Pocahontas  saved  Smith 

N.  J. 

5 

Berkeley 

3 

S.  C. 

8 

Edwards 

1 

Va. 

15 

Penn 

11 

Massasoit  welcomed  Puritans 

Rolfe 

11 

Canonicus 

3 

Philip 
Powhatan 

17                   26' 
48 

Charter  government  in 
Del. 

33 

Ga. 

7 

Swedes  in  Delaware 

Md. 

13 

Conn. 

16 

Pa. 

26 

Ga. 

10 

Va. 

38 

91 


92 

27. 


Standardized  Exercises  in  History 


28. 


29. 


30. 


31, 


32. 


33. 


Huguenots  in  Charleston 
Baltimore  19 

Boston  28 

New  York  10 

Philadelphia  21 


Plymouth  Rock  in 

Conn. 

23 

Del. 

17 

Md. 

9 

N.  J. 

5 

N.  Y. 

1 

Pa. 

4 

R.  I. 

20 

S.  C. 

1 

Pilgrims  came  in 

1607 

51 

1619 

12 

1643 

6 

1683 

6 

1776 

2 

1789 

2 

Claiborne's  Rebellion  vs. 

Berkeley  33 

Brook  8 

Delaware  12 

Say  9 

Indentured  servants  in 

Del.  & 

Ga.  29 

Pa.  3 

S.  C.  37 

Andros  represented 

Continental  Congress  37 
Proprietors  12 

Common  people  41 

First  Rep.  Assembly 

1607  14 

1620  13 

1643  24 

1754  58 


34. 


Bradford  leader  of 
Baptists 


22 


Catholics 

19 

Quakers 

58 

35. 

Catholics'  first  settlement 

Conn. 

14 

Del. 

12 

Mass. 

18 

N.  C. 

6 

N.  H. 

4 

N.  J. 

5 

R.  I. 

31 

36. 

Jamestown  founded 

1619 

4 

1620 

24 

1643 

18 

1733 

21 

1754 

8 

37. 

First  Newspaper 

New  York   Times 

28 

Philadelphia  Ledger 

5 

Poor   Richard's   Al. 

83 

Providence  Journal 

7 

38. 

Log  houses 

brick 

5 

cement 

0 

dirt 

6 

marble 

1 

39. 

Last  colony 

Conn. 

8 

Del. 

5 

Md. 

4 

Mass. 

5 

N.  C. 

6 

N.  Y. 

6 

Pa. 

6 

S.  C. 

22 

R.  I. 

17 

Va. 

5 

40. 

Emigration  westward 

east 

29 

north 

12 

south 

14 

Use  for  Supervisory  Purposes 


93 


41. 

Last  Dutch  Governor 

Hudson 

32 

Minuit 

4 

Winthrop 

17 

Yeardley 

8 

42. 

Germans  in  Pennsylvania 

Md. 

17 

N.  J. 

16 

N.  Y. 

39 

R.  I. 

9 

S.  C. 

7 

Va. 

1 

43. 

City  of  Brotherly  Love 

Berkeley 

1 

Calvert 

7 

Endicott 

7 

Smith 

6 

Standish 

18 

44.  Important  Colonial  War 

Queen   Anne  16 

King  George  16 

King  William  16 

45.  Government,  form  desired 

aristocracy  4 

autocracy  9 

monarchy  20 

oligarchy  4 


46.  Quakers  persecuted 

Baptists  24 

Methodists  10 

Moravians  13 

Reformed  36 

47.  Georgia  invaded  by 

Dutch  45 

French  34 

Irish  2 

Swedes  8 

48.  Gorges  control'd  Maine 

Davenport  38 

A.  Hutchinson  45 

Kieft  8 

49.  "Holy  Experiment" 

Wm.  Bradford  17 

Wm.  Brewster  15 

J.  Leisler  2 

Minuit  23 

50.  Natives  of  America 

Caucasians  2 

Chinese  0 

Malays  2 

Negroes  3 


These  tabulations  represent  the  actual  responses  of  150  pupils 
selected  from  15  different  schools  taken  at  random.  It  reveals  in 
an  objective  way  how  far  short  and  indefinite  is  the  aim  to  inform 
pupils  accurately  on  some  of  the  more  commonly  accepted  points 
in  the  early  history  of  our  country. 

Such  a  table  as  the  above  may  be  easily  made  up  by  placing 
on  the  blackboard  all  the  suggested  answers  to  each  exercise,  and 
then  call  for  a  show  of  hands  when  any  point  is  taken  up.  Suppose 
the  exercise  referring  to  the  date  of  the  landing  of  the  Pilgrims 
were  considered.*  The  teacher  would  ask,  how  many  find  1607  as 


*After  pupils  had  scored  their  own  papers. 


94  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

the  date  selected;  how  many  found  1776,  and  so  on  throughout  the 
whole  list.  If  a  considerable  number  of  pupils  gave  1607  as  the 
correct  answer  to  this  point  it  is  evident  that  the  class  as  a  whole 
is  not  clear  either  as  to  the  settlement  at  Jamestown  or  the  landing 
of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  Both  points  need  to  be  emphasized  anew. 
But  previously  it  should  be  the  professional  work  of  the  teacher  to 
find  out  why  these  dates  were  confused — the  cause  of  the  poor 
scholarship.  Having  first  done  this  the  remedial  measures  can 
usually  be  found.  This  is  the  use  for  which  these  measures  are 
the  most  highly  commended.  They  afford  a  direct,  objective  means 
of  revealing  to  pupils  and  teachers  alike  the  points  of  strength  and 
weakness.  They  are  shown  so  specifically  that  the  means  for  over- 
coming the  deficiencies  seem  almost  self-evident.  The  check  on  the 
correctness  of  the  tabulations  was  that  the  total  of  the  reports  should 
in  each  instance  equal  150. 

Even  with  a  selected  group  of  superior  pupils  of  the  same  abil- 
ity, classified  according  to  the  results  of  an  intelligence  test,  these 
measures  are  an  aid  to  the  teacher.  The  sigma  value  accompanying 
each  exercise  indicates  the  inherent  difficulty,  and  consequently  it 
may  be  estimated  at  once  whether  much  or  little  emphasis  should 
be  given.  As  was  pointed  out  in  the  preceding  section  it  seems  per- 
fectly clear  that  there  are  some  matters  which  need  to  be  more 
skillfully  taught  than  teachers  have  been  heretofore  aware  of. 


CHAPTER  VII 
SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSION 

In  the  preceding  chapters  have  been  given  the  purpose  and 
method  of  this  study  in  detail,  and  a  discussion  of  the  results  for 
educational  purposes.  In  concluding  the  work,  the  whole  study 
may  be  summed  up  and  evaluated  as  follows: 

SEC.   1. — Summary 

1.  The  primary  purpose  of  this  study  was  the  derivation  ot 
standardized  measures  for  testing  the  historical  ability  of  pupils  in 
the  elementary  schools. 

2.  Four    such    standardized    measures    were    found    possible: 
Scales  C  and  D  and  Tests  E  and  F. 

3.  The  content  of  these  standardized  measures  is  confined  to 
informational  material  taken  from  the  Colonial   Period  of  United 
States  History. 

4.  All  of  the  informational  material  usually  included  in  an 
elementary  course  of  study  on  the  period  considered  has  been  stand- 
ardized. 

5.  The  content  is  incorporated  in  the  form  of  exercises  wherein 
the  pupil  must  choose  the  correct  one  of  several  suggested  plausible 
answers. 

6.  The  standardization  of  the  exercises  was  based  upon  the 
performance  of   eighth   grade   pupils   approximately   one   year   after 
studying  the  Colonial  Period. 

7.  A  method  of  procedure  for  standardizing  testing  material 
has  been  presented. 

8.  Finally  there  is  given  a  discussion  of  the  use  of  the  stand- 
ardized measures  for  supervisory  purposes.     The  outstanding  points 
in  this  chapter  are :   a  reorganization  of  all  the  exercises  into  Test  A 
and  Test  B,  Part  I  and  Part  II  with  full  directions  for  adminis- 
tering, scoring,  using  the  results;  the  value  of  the  exercises;  four 
types  of  historical  material ;  and  suggested  means  for  using  the  exer- 
cises to  discover  clues  for  improving  instruction. 

95 


96  Standardized  Exercises  in  History 

SEC.  2. — Conclusions 

1.  All  the  evidence  of  this  study  clearly  shows  that  it  is  pos- 
sible to  standardize  all  the  testing  material  in  the  content  subjects. 
The  difficulty  exists  in  devising  a  form  for  the  material  which  admits 
of  objective  scoring. 

2.  Many  more  scales  and  tests  similar  to  the  ones  here  pre- 
sented are  needed  in  order  that  the  results  of  instruction   in   each 
period  or  particular  phase  of  United  States  History  may  be  tested. 

3.  The  Standardized   Exercises  presented  as  a  result  of  this 
study  are  reliable  and  will  continue  to  be  reliable  measures  until 
there  is  a  decided  change  in  the  standard  conditions  under  which  the 
Colonial  Period  of  United  States  History  is  taught. 

4.  The  results  of  this  study  indicate  that  abundant  historical 
material  is  presented  to  pupils  but  little  recognition  is  given  to  the 
ease  or  difficulty  which  pupils  experience  in  learning  the  different 
kinds  of  material. 

5.  The   tendency   to   depreciate   the   value   of   learning   thor- 
oughly much  informational  material  in  United  States  History  can 
not  be  supported.     Much  well  organized  information  is  needed  for 
constructive  thinking  if  the  new  aims  of  teaching  history  are  to  be 
realized. 

6.  The  scales  and  tests  here  presented  may  be  used  to  deter- 
mine  both   the  achievement  of   pupils,   and   the   remedial   measures 
needed  to  improve  instruction. 


Bagley  and  Rugg 
Buckingliam,  B.   R. 


Crelle,  A.  L. 
Dewey,  John 
Kelly,  F.  J. 

McCall,  W.  A. 

Monroe,   W.  S. 
Rugg,  H.  0. 
Starch,  Daniel 
Van   Wagenen,  M.  J. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  Content  of  American  History  as  Taught 
in  the  Seventh  and  Eighth  Grades. 

Spelling  Ability,  Its  Measurements  and  Distri- 
bution. 

A  Proposed  Index  of  Efficiency  in  Teaching 
U.  S.  History,  Journal  of  Educational  Re- 
search, Vol.  I,  No.  3. 

Tables   de   Calcul,    U.   S.   Geological   Survey. 
Democracy  and  Education. 

Teachers'  Marks,  Their  Variability  and  Stand- 
ardization. 

A  New  Kind  of  School  Examination,  Journal  of 
Educational  Research,  Vol.  I,  No.  1. 

Measuring  the  Results  of  Teaching. 
Statistical  Methods  Applied  to  Education. 
Educational  Measurements. 

Historical  Information  and  Judgment  in  Pupils 
of  Elementary  Schools,  New  York,  Teachers 
College,  Columbia  University,  1919. 


97 


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